The Hunt
by H.G. Stewart
Summary: A pair of crooks, a plan for justice, and plenty of angst. But sugar, any way you cut it, there ain't no happy ending on this one!
1. Chapter 1

**_Welcome friends, that is, if ya wanna stay. Now if I start out with that warnin', ya better think real hard on it. You see, it ain't typical to see an overcast day here in Hazzard, but I figure the Lord sent the clouds to match the mood. Everyone's bleak these days, even ole Flash has sensed the mood and commenced to howling on occasion. And folks, when them sad puppy dog eyes are pure genuine, you know things are bad._**

"Awoooooooooooooooooooooooooo"

"Now velvet ears, you know you gotta hush. You know how Boss is, one more peep outta you and he'll make you wait out in my patrol car."

"Woof!"

"Let her be, Rosco. 'Least we'll hear somethin' around here besides the tick tock of that annoyin' clock."

"Oh I'm sorry you're down, little fat buddy. Want me to turn on the radio for you?" Rosco asked, attempting to cheer Boss up even though he himself wasn't in the most chipper mood.

"Won't do no good. Radio station's closed."

"Closed?"

"Closed. Just like the garage and the post office and the hardware store. This event's affected the whole town. Ain't even nobody talkin' on the 'net."

"I know what'll cheer you up." Rosco announced, brightening with an idea. "I'll go over to the diner and pick you up a half-dozen hamburgers. How does that sound?"

"You can't."

"Well why not?"

"It's closed too."

"Oh." Rosco replied. "Well how 'bout the Boar's Nest? You kept that open, didn't you?"

"Don't make no sense keepin' it open if there ain't nobody goin' over there. And as long as Daisy Duke ain't workin', ain't nobody going over there!"

"Well there's always the kitchen at your house, unless Lulu's closed that too."

"Aw, forget it Rosco." Boss replied, waving his hand through the air. "I ain't even hungry."

Boss walked across the room and sat behind his desk, puffing on his cigar a bit before looking at Rosco.

"Why you lookin' at me like that lame brain?"

"I'm sorry, Boss. It's just that I never expected somethin' like this would affect you so."

"Neither did I." Boss replied, leaning forward to snuff out the cigar. "But ya know, me and Jesse…..we go back a long way, and when somethin' like this happens to a friend of yours, it tugs on your heartstrings too."

"Well Boss, I'm surprised, really surprised."

"About my reaction?"

"No, that you have a heart."

"Ah!" Boss grunted, giving Rosco an annoyed stare. "Why don't you just make like a tree and leave? I ain't payin' ya to sit their polishin' yer badge. Git out on patrol and arrest somebody!"

"But Boss….."

"Git!" Boss commanded, pointing toward the door.

Rosco trudged over and picked up Flash before exiting to his patrol car. As he looked around the square it was almost spooky how quiet everything was. It seemed just like a ghost town. Even the birds acted like they knew what was going on, and sat quietly in their nests, uttering nay a peep.

Rosco started up the patrol car and drove away. He was thinking about how lucky Enos was to be out in California. Oh the news of the event had reached his ears, alright. After all, the Duke family were the dearest friends he had. But at least he had his work out there to keep him occupied and keep his mind off of what had happened. Not like the folks that lived here right in the middle of it.

As Rosco rolled along, his thoughts were interrupted when an orange blur passed him. He estimated that the General Lee was going at least 60 miles per hour in the 20 mph zone, which had been set up for no other reason than to shuck-n-jive poor folks who would have to give up an essential just to pay the fee. That kind of speed would normally merit at least a $100.00 fine, but Rosco didn't have the heart to write the ticket.

Instead, he picked up the CB. "Alllllllright you up there in the General Lee. Ya better slow it down. I don't wanna give ya a ticket, but I will if ya don't cooperate."

"Sorry Rosco." The Duke boy replied in a solumn tone, tapping on the brakes. "Just out lookin' for Uncle Jesse."

"Again?" Rosco asked in disbelief.

"'Fraid so. I gotta pretty sneakin' suspicion where I can find him though."

"Yeah, me too." Rosco admitted. "Listen, why don't you let me go talk to him this time? Sometimes hearin' a broken record in a different voice can help people hear it for the first time."

"I'd sure appreciate that, Rosco. 'Cause us Dukes can't have him goin' off the deep end, not with everything else we're havin' to deal with."

"I understand. Over and out." Rosco replied.

Rosco drove out to the park, the park where Jesse had spent the last 5 days. Every since….., well…..

And sure enough, there he was again. Sitting on a stump, sometimes focusing, sometimes staring off into space. But just sitting as he had been for days.

Rosco swallowed and got out of his patrol car. Putting his hat in his hands, he walked up just behind the elderly man.

"Evenin' Jesse."

"Rosco." Jesse nodded.

"Sure is nice and warm, isn't it? Feels good after that long winter we had."

"I suppose." Jesee replied.

"Uh, listen Jesse. I just ran into your nephew and he's out lookin' for you. I told him I'd come over here and see if you's here."

"Don't know why he's wastin' gas lookin', he knew where I'd be."

"Well that's just the thing, Jesse. You see, you've been out here ever since, well…..ever since that day. And a lot of folks around here, they're startin' to worry about you. Even ole' Boss's worried, if you can imagine that."

"Well I'm sorry if I'm settin' folks in a tizzy, but everybody's got their own way of dealin' with things, and this is my way of dealin' with it."

Rosco nodded. "I know, but, well, it's startin' to get dark out and……"

"You notice anything new, Rosco?"

Rosco looked ahead of him and nodded. "Fine, Jesse. Looks mighty fine."

Jesse nodded. "Picked it out myself. Daisy, now she had her ideas, but it was me who made the final decision."

Rosco nodded again. "It'd do anyone proud. But I think you're family would be even more proud to know that you let me take you home where you can get yourself a good meal and some rest and put everyone at ease."

Jesse thought a minute and sighed. "I suppose yer right, 'bout me goin' home and getting' a little rest, but as far as us Dukes havin' our mind at ease, I don't know if that's ever gonna happen again."

Rosco didn't know what to say, so he stood saying nothing. After a few moments, Jesse rose and walked forward a bit. He kissed his fingertips before he placed them on the new stone. The new tombstone at Hazzard Memorial Park which read 'Duke'.

"See ya tomorrow, youngin'."

_**Now in case ya'll are wonderin' if this is real, our author friend has assured me that it is. That just leaves two questions to be answered: Which one is it? And why's he there?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_(A/N Sweet story typical of the show equals so so reviews_

_Lots of character angst and unimaginable situations equals tons of reviews_

_The moral of the story: Don't blame me, ya'll ask for it!)_

A Few Days Earlier...

He had been humming as he drove along in the General Lee admiring the countryside. Everything was just so beautiful. The sky was even more blue, the birds sang more sweetly, and the flowers he hardly ever paid attention to before now burst forth in rainbows of colors.

He had three errands to run that day. First, he had to go by the garage and pay Cooter for his latest adjustment to the General. Second, he had to go by the post office and pick up a package for Uncle Jesse. And the third errand, well, that was the most important one of all. It was an errand he was sure to remember doing the rest of his life.

"Hey buddyro" Cooter greeted him when he screeched up to the garage. "Ya might wanna slow it down here in town. Rosco's in one of his moods today since Enos ain't around to help him no more and Cletus is at home with the flu."

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied, getting out of the General with a big smile on his face. "Here's the money for that tune-up." He added, handing Cooter an envelope.

"You had a chance to really test him out yet? You should feel a real difference with them new spark plugs."

"No, not yet." The Duke boy replied, lost in thought as he stood there with the same smile on his face.

Cooter laughed. "You sure are grinnin' a lot these days. It's like havin' a big ole' Cheshire cat runnin' around.

"Aw, c'mon Cooter. Ain't you ever been in love?"

"Sure, ten or eleven times, just like you." Cooter replied.

"No, it's different this time. Ever since I laid eyes on Carol Anne, I knew it'd be different. It's like we were made for each other." He shook his head as he smiled, leaned up against the General with his arms folded. " I don't think I could ever find anybody else like her."

"Wow." Cooter replied. "Sounds serious."

"More than you probably realize." He replied. "Well, I gotta get goin'. Got other things to do today."

"Listen, when you roll out of town and can get somewhere to put some real speed on the General, let him go and see how them spark plugs treat ya, hear?"

"Sure thing." He replied as he turned to jog across the square. He soon arrived at the post office and went inside.

"Mornin' Miz Tizdale. Uncle Jesse's package ever come in yet?"

"Sorry, son, you know the rules around here. Nobody gets any service without takin' a number."

He reached over and pulled a number off the holder and waited impatiently.

"Number one." Miz Tizdale announced.

He then handed the number over. Miz Tizdale took it and slapped it down on the counter just before she reached under the counter and pulled up a rather large box.

"Uh, sorry. Gonna hafta see some I.D. first." She announced when he reached for it.

"Miz Tizdale, you've know me for…….."

"Regulation." She interrupted.

Sighing, he pulled out his I.D. and showed it to her.

"That's a real good likeness of you there. Kinda reminds me of your Uncle Jesse back when he's a youngster." She sighed dreamily. "That Carol Anne Finch is sure lucky to have found you."

"I think I'm the lucky one to have found her." The Duke boy admitted, leaning over to whisper in Miz Tizdale's ear. "And I ain't gonna let her go." He added, giving her a knowing look.

Miz Tizdale brightened in realization. "Do you mean…..?"

He nodded. "I'm on my way over to the jewelers to pick out an engagement ring now."

"Oh!" Miz Tizdale laughed, jumping in excitement and clapping her hands together. Anything having to do with love put a spark in her step. She suddenly thought of something and stopped. "But wait a minute, you ain't goin' to the jewelers here in town, are ya?"

"Well, yeah." He replied.

"Oh no no no. Don't shop there. They got a big sale goin' on at the jewelry store oven in Capitol City this week. Got a lot of stuff half price. See these new ear bobs I bought there yesterday?" She continued, leaning toward him and pushing her ear out.

"Half price?" He asked, seeing some hope for something past the diamond cluster he had planned to buy.

"Why sure. But if you're gonna go you better skedaddle. Today's the last day from what I understand."

"Thanks! Thanks a lot, Miz Tizdale!" He exclaimed, grabbing the package and heading out the door, where he jogged back over to General Lee and took off.

"Oh you're welcome." Miz Tizdale replied after he had already left. She propped her elbows on the counter and sighed, thinking about love and Jesse Duke.

As soon as the General had cleared the city limits, the Duke boy decided to make good on his promise to test out the spark plugs. He increased his speed, happy that he wouldn't have Rosco to worry with. He had spent all his time in town lately since he was the only officer on duty.

He flicked on the radio and listened to the time. 10:45. Provided there were no other customers in the store, he estimated he would be there and back in Hazzard County around noon.

"Lost Sheep to Crazy Cooter." He hollered over the C.B.

"This here's Crazy C, you need me?" Cooter answered in short rhyme.

"Just lettin' ya know them spark plugs are doin' real fine. Got the General up to 80 and he's purrin' along smooth as can be."

Cooter laughed. "See, I told ya. Listen bud, I'll catch ya later, got a customer at the pump."

"Ten-four Cooter. Over and out."

About ten minutes after he had zoomed over the county line, he came to a screeching halt in front of the Capitol City Jewelers. He climbed out of the General, taking a moment to count the money in his wallet again before he entered the store.

His counting was interrupted when he heard an alarm bell. He looked up to see two guys in black ski masks rush out of the store. They gave the Capitol City square a quick glance before rushing to the car that was parked in front of the General. Assuming the square was empty, the passenger pulled off his mask just a moment before he noticed that the Duke boy was staring at him.

"Where'd you come from?" He yelled, having looked right over him before.

"He saw you!" The driver exclaimed. "We can't have no witnesses!"

Without any further conversation, the passenger raised his revolver and fired a single shot toward the Duke boy, who crumpled to the ground in a sudden pool of blood as the pair screeched off in the getaway car.

The act brought several citizens of Capitol City out of the buildings, and some visitors as well. It so happened that Jesse Duke was just across the square, signing a lease on a hay baler when he heard the shot. He was horrified to open the door and see one of his own laying there.

The sprint Jesse took across that square would rival any marathon runner. He rushed up to his nephew's side, sliding an arm under him and grabbing his hand.

"Uncle Jesse…." The young man muttered, gritting his teeth.

"It's alright. You're gonna be alright." Jesse replied, wondering why he was there but knowing now was definitely not the time to ask. He breathed deeply in order to maintain a calm voice when he saw the amount of blood going everywhere.

"I ain't gonna make it." His nephew revealed as a bystander announced that an ambulance was on it's way.

"Nonsense. You're a Duke. Us Dukes always come out on top." Jesse replied soothingly.

"Not this time." He replied as he felt himself relax and saw the world going blurry. "I…..love….you."

"Hang on!" Uncle Jesse commanded, shaking him as he felt his nephew go limp in his arms. "Please." He begged as his own world went blurry with the tears he began to shed. As the bystanders stood with heads down and hats off, the old man mourned the lifeless body he held in his arms.

_**Ain't it a shame that some of the prettiest days can end up bearin' the biggest storms?**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Back to today……_

"Uncle Jesse, we're so glad you're home!" Daisy exclaimed, getting up to hug her uncle who was home at a decent hour for the first time since the funeral days earlier.

As soon as Daisy let go of him she hugged Rosco, who was shocked by the gesture but returned it just the same. Who would have thought that it would take someone normally an enemy of the family to put at least some sense into Jesse?

"Rosco, can you stay for supper? I made Jesse's favorite, crawdad bisque, although I can't promise it'll be as good as his."

"That's awfully nice of you, Daisy, but I done promised my sister, Lulu, that I'd come over to their place for supper tonight."

"Oh, well maybe next time." Daisy replied, patting him on the back while she dabbed her eyes.

"I'll walk you out, Rosco." Her cousin announced, opening the door for the sheriff.

"See ya later, Jesse." Rosco said, pausing long enough to look at Jesse before he headed out the door.

"See ya." Jesse replied simply.

Rosco walked out to his patrol car and turned to face the Duke boy.

"Thanks for seeing him home, Rosco. You just don't know how much we appreciate it." The boy announced. Although it was growing dark, Rosco could see that he had been crying. He had noticed that Daisy was in the same condition, although he hadn't mentioned it. He was sure they had dried up in a big hurry when they found out Jesse was home.

"You're mighty welcome." Rosco replied with a slight smile. "I still can't believe he's gone. You two were like peas in a pod."

Rosco watched as tears threatened to well up in the Duke boy's eyes. But he managed to take a deep breath and will them back before they fell.

"You….ahhhh….you still ain't got no lead on the two that did this?"

Rosco shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you already know that unless they show up in Hazzard County there ain't much I can do. Since the crime was committed outside of my district, I can't even investigate. All I can do is keep a lookout for anyone matching the description of the suspects or the car. And I can assure you, I am doing that."

"Well, do you think you can pull some strings with Sheriff Little for me? I've tried to go over the county line a couple of times to look into things but he or his deputies always manage to stop me." The Duke boy admitted.

Rosco looked at him. "Do you really think your Uncle Jesse needs to think about you bein' in Chicasaw considerin' what happened last time he's there?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "It wouldn't hurt for him to think about somethin' else for awhile besides sittin' in that dang cemetery." He announced. He didn't like the situation any better than Jesse but he hadn't summoned up the courage to revisit the grave himself since he had collapsed there the day of the funeral.

"Well I'd have to agree with that. But what he needs to think about is church socials or old ridgerunner reunions. Good things like that, not about his other nephew gettin tangled up with them robbers." With that, Rosco opened the door of his patrol car. "I'm sorry, son, but the answer is no."

Not in any mood to argue, the Duke boy simply returned Rosco's slight wave as the sheriff started up his patrol car and rolled away.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Early the next morning Jesse Duke stepped out of his bedroom, putting an overall strap over his shoulder as he thought back to yet another restless night. He trudged toward the bathroom and opened the door, surprised to find it already occupied.

"Oh, sorry Daisy." Jesse threw out before he closed the door.

"It's alright, Uncle Jesse." She replied, stopping the door with her hand. "Just putting on my makeup."

"Why are you up so early?"

"I'm gonna open up the Boar's Nest today." She replied, turning to her uncle with a sad expression. "'Fraid there's no sympathy from the bill collectors. The power company called yesterday, said they's gonna shut us off if they didn't have $50.00 by Friday."

"They did?"

Daisy nodded her head. Jesse shook his in response.

"I'm sorry. I guess I ain't been doin' too good by you kids lately."

"It's okay Uncle Jesse, we understand." Daisy replied, putting her arms around his shoulders. "We know you're hurtin'. We're all hurtin'."

"Yeah, I'm hurtin'. But just cause one of my kids is……." Jesse trailed off as he got choked up. Daisy hugged him tight as he breathed deeply and regained control of himself. "Well…..it don't give me the right to ignore the other ones."

"Like I said, Jesse. We understand. You go on and visit, take all the time you need."

"Oh I will. But first, I'm gonna deliver a load of sorgum over ta Thomas Hardy. He's wantin' it before all this happened, and that'll give us the $50.00 we need." He patted Daisy's hand. "You can stay home, if you want to."

"I'm going to work anyway, Jesse." Daisy replied. "I'm gonna go crazy if I just sit around ponderin' anymore."

He gave her a slight smile and nodded.

"Maybe after you deliver that load and visit awhile, you can stop over and have one of my chicken salad sandwiches."

Jesse gave her a slight nod once again. "Okay Daisy. I'll try to do that."

She gave him an impromptu kiss on the cheek. "Try really hard, Uncle Jesse."

He replied by returning a kiss of his own. Then she collected her purse and headed to the door.

Jesse then went to wake up his nephew. But instead of waking him up right away, he simply sat on the edge of his bed, watching him sleep, as he had many times before.

Soon his nephew stirred a bit, and he opened his eyes slightly, focusing on the room before he slowly turned to his uncle. "Somethin' wrong, Uncle Jesse?"

"Just watchin'." Jesse replied with that same slight smile. "Have I ever told you just how much I love you?"

The boy rubbed sleep from his eyes before folding an arm behind his head. "Yes, Uncle Jesse. Many times." He smiled.

Jesse nodded. "Well, I just wanna make sure you know. We learned the hard way last week that you never know what tomorrow holds."

"Don't worry. I know you love me, Uncle Jesse." He replied, putting his hand on Jesse's arm. "And he knew you loved him, too. Don't ever doubt that."

"But…." Jesse sighed. "…..he slipped away before I could even tell him."

"Don't matter, Jesse. You've told us so many times it's just plain common knowledge."

"Still…" Jesse continued. "I don't know. I know I've been at the grave a lot, but I just feel like I owe him something. I mean, maybe it'd been a little different if he'd held on long enough to hear that I loved him…………..I mean, the two of you could've been doing a whole lot more with your lives other than bein' in Hazzard helpin' to run this farm, and I know ya'll did it 'cause you love me and you know I love this place. I'm deeply grateful for it and it makes me love the pair of you even more. I'd just feel a whole lot better if I's sure he knew just how I feel."

"Jesse, I can assure you, if I'd been in his place that day and the exact same thing had happened to me, I'd left this world knowing everything you just told me, just like he did."

Jesse sighed. "It just ain't fair. It ain't fair for somebody so young with their whole life in front of them to be taken by….by some hooligan who might git a thousand dollars outta what he stole." He paused before he continued. "He's gone 'cause of me, ya know."

"Uncle Jesse! What are you sayin'?"

"I mean it's my fault. If I hadn't of asked him to pick up that package at the post office he mighta got there a little earlier and been done 'fore them hooligans ever showed up."

"Uncle Jesse, you didn't have no way of knowing what was gonna happen! You can't blame yourself for this!"

He sighed. "I guess I know that up here." He said, pointing to his head. "But this tells me different." He added, putting his hand on his chest.

"Oh, Uncle Jesse….."

You know why he's there in Capitol City?" Jesse interrupted.

His nephew shook his head.

"Emma told me. He's gonna propose to Carol Anne. He's over there to git her an engagement ring."

That brought a small smile to his nephew's lips. "Engaged? Well I knew they's getting' kinda serious, but I didn't expect anything like that!"

"Nobody did." Jesse replied, the small spark of joy gone from his face again. "Ya know, it wasn't just him that died that day. It's them youngin's he shoulda had some day, too. You remember how he always said he hoped he'd have twin boys so's he could name 'em Ace and Deuce?"

His nephew managed a laugh. "Aw that was just a joke. He'd never name his kids that."

"Oh I know the names was a joke, but havin' some kids, you know that was somethin' he always said he wanted." Jesse sighed. "It tears me up that the one who pulled the trigger got away with it. Sheriff Little said all leads had been exhausted."

"Uncle Jesse, it don't have to stay that way."

Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "I imagine them crooks 'ill let somethin' slip to the wrong person some day, and they'll git caught."

"No, I mean we don't have to wait for that to happen."

Jesse eyed his nephew. "What are you gittin' at?"

"I mean I could go over there, to Chickasaw, and see if I can track those guys myself."

"You could do it over my dead body." Jesse replied without missing a beat.

"But Jesse, none of this was your fault. It was their fault and we got a score to settle with them guys. I tried to get Rosco to talk Sheriff Little into letting me come over there and try to find them guys, but he refused. He'd change his mind though if you talked to him."

"I ain't gonna talk to him. For once in his career, Rosco did something smart."

"Uncle Jesse, please. He was my brother, as far as I'm concerned. More like a brother than a cousin."

"I said no!" Uncle Jesse exclaimed. "Them guys are proven killers, and if I hafta have another grave dug, I'll hafta have two. Eventually, I might…..and I lay heavily on the word might….. git through this, that is if nothin' else like this happens. But if I gotta bury another one, they'll have to bury me too!"

With tears pooling in the corners of his eyes, Jesse got up and went to the kitchen table where he pulled out a chair and lay his head on the table, sobbing alone, leaving his nephew in his bed to do the same.

_**Don'tcha just hate them no win situations?**_


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N- We've got a brand new forum up, the 'Book Club'. This is not just for my stories, but for any Dukes stories in which you want to ask questions or just go into discussion.. I hope each of you will visit it and open up discussions on any of the stories you like here. I think it would be great fun and educational for any lurkers out there who are a bit afraid to start their own stories. So come visit, and if all you can do for now is say Howdy, then say it!)

* * *

Around 2 o'clock that afternoon, he jumped into the General Lee and headed for the Boar's Nest for a cold drink, glad that it was open again. He had spent a long hot morning loading Jesse's truck with sorgum sacks before chopping a full ream of wood. Having all of the heavy chores of the farm to himself would seem a burden as time went by. But for now, they served to keep his mind off his cousin, his best friend that he would never see again.

A part of him, well the majority of him, would love nothing better than to race into Chicasaw County past Little's deputies and insist on information from the jewelry store before going off to investigate on his own. But every time he looked at Jesse, he knew Rosco had made a lot of sense. This was a delicate situation. Sure he wanted his revenge, but it would be hard act to follow the path of the robbers with the Chicasaw police force on his. And news such as that would surely reach Jesse's ears. No. The best way to go about it would be to get into Chicasaw with Jesse's blessing, or at least manage to sneak in without Little's force knowing that he had. It was more important to take care of Jesse now, as no matter the outcome, his couldn't bring his cousin back.

Eventually, he rolled into the dirt parking lot of the Boar's Nest and came to a stop. As he looked around at the mass of cars, it seemed that he wasn't the only one happy to see the dive up and running again.

"Gimme anutter 'en Daisy." He heard a familiar voice slur after he had went inside and closed the door behind him. As Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire' filled the room, he looked toward the source and saw Cooter slumped onto the bar, a shot glass in one hand and an empty whiskey bottle turned over in the other one.

"I'm sorry, Cooter, but I can't. There isn't any more." Daisy softly replied.

"Them gimme sumthin' else."

"Cooter, You've drank that whole bottle. I think you've had more than enough."

"Ain't unconzious yet 'm I?"

"No, and you don't need to be."

The Duke boy opened his mouth in surprise. He had seen Cooter drunk before, but not this early in the afternoon!

"I saib I whant annutter and I whant it now!" Cooter said again, anger rising in his voice.

Daisy stood not knowing how to react when her cousin stepped forward. "Go on and give him just one more, Daisy. I'll take care of it if anything happens." He said, knowing there wasn't any way to talk sense into Cooter when he was this far gone.

Daisy simply nodded as she turned and selected a new whiskey bottle. Turning it upside down over the glass, she waited until the last drop had escaped. "He ain't the only one. I opened this one just this morning." She told her cousin.

He nodded as Cooter took the glass with a shaking hand. Lifting it to his mouth he poured, managing to taste a bit while the rest simply spilled onto the counter. Setting the glass down once again, he finally sat up straight. Turning to the Duke boy, he offered him a big grin before falling backwards onto the floor, his facial expression never changing.

"Cooter!" Daisy exclaimed, rushing around the bar. She and her cousin knelt down with several other patrons and brushed broken glass, peanuts, and broken barstool legs from him. "Just as I thought, he's passed out!" She exclaimed.

"Ya want me to call Doc Appleby?" Ray Newberry asked.

"Naw, ain't nothing a little fresh air and some black coffee won't help." The Duke boy replied. "Somebody help me get him up."

Three of the stronger men went around and assisted in getting him up. They all carried him outside to his tow truck where they opened the passenger door and placed him gently inside.

"Listen, I'll be glad to take Cooter home if you want to go inside and relax." Ray offered as the Duke boy settled himself into the driver's seat, knowing he had just arrived and of all people, could use some time to unwind.

"I think I can handle it once we get him home but I could use some help gettin' him inside once he's there."

Tom nodded and he and his friends followed the tow truck. Ray drove the General so the Duke boy would have a way home while the other two followed in their car so Ray would have a way back to the Boar's Nest.

Soon they arrived at Cooter's farm, where the four men worked together to carry the mechanic inside.

"Thanks a lot Ray." The Duke boy announced later after Tom and his friends had stretched Cooter out on his sofa and turned to leave.

"Least we can do." Ray replied. "You holler if you and your Uncle Jesse needs any help on that farm of yours."

"I will." The boy nodded as the trio left to return to the Boar's Nest.

The Duke boy sighed as he looked around the house. There were dozens of whiskey bottles and crushed beer cans laying around the house. Enough to keep a person plastered for days. He figured that Cooter must have been taking the death of his friend pretty hard as he hadn't even been around for the Dukes, but he never expected this.

Sighing, the Duke boy went upstairs to Cooter's bedroom, where he retrieved a blanket and a pillow. He slipped the pillow under Cooter's head before he took off his shoes and placed the blanket over him. He went to the bathroom and took the small garbage can there, placing a fresh liner inside before he set it next to the couch, waiting for the inevitable. He then opened the windows in the living room to let the fresh air flow through. After that, he got a larger bag out of the kitchen and set to picking up the bottles and cans, drinking the leftover sips he found in a few of them, figuring it would be a good while before there would be any need for the coffee.

A few hours later, Cooter began to show the first sign of life. When he woke and began to cough, the Duke boy rushed over, picking up the garbage can just in time as Cooter retched violently several times.

"You alright now?" The Duke boy asked as Cooter settled back.

"My head is pounding." Cooter replied, putting his palms on his forehead.

"I'll be right back.." The Duke boy announced, going to the kitchen to flick on the coffee maker that he had already set up to brew. He grabbed a paper towel to dry his eyes and blow his nose, as the period of silent waiting just before had offered him a chance to remember and reflect.

A few minutes later, he returned to Cooter with the coffee. His friend had managed to sit up. Looking into the cup, he held his hand up as if to push it away. "They any beer left?" He asked.

The Duke boy frowned. "I didn't look, Cooter. Take this, it'll make you feel better."

"Don't wanna feel better." Cooter replied. "Don't wanna feel nothin'."

"Take it Cooter." The Duke boy commanded with a bit more authority than he had intended. "Ya gotta sober up."

"Why?" Cooter asked, his face frowning in anger as he began to breathe heavily. "Why do you want me to sober up? So's I can remember what a dang idiot I was last week?"

"What are you talkin' about?"

"About how………..about how I sent your cousin to his grave!"

"What!"

"It was all my fault!" Cooter cringed. "If I hadn't ask him to test out them spark plugs, and if I hadn't a told him Rosco was workin' in town, then he wouldn't have got there so fast and them guys would've been long gone!"

"Cooter!" The Duke boy exclaimed, taking his jaw and turning his head toward him. "Him bein' gone is NOT your fault! You sit here blamin' yourself for having him test some spark plugs? That makes about as much sense as Jesse blamin' himself for sendin' him to the post office……or Miz Tizdale blamin' herself for tellin' him about the sale, according to what Jesse told me this morning."

The Duke boy then got up and paced the room. "The fact of the matter is, there's just one person, one person in the whole world who's responsible for taking his life. And to the best of my knowledge, that someone is holed up somewhere over in Chickasaw County. And I intend to find him." He turned back to Cooter. "Now you gotta sober up, 'cause there's something you gotta do for me."

"What is it?" Cooter slurred.

"Without Uncle Jesse finding out…." He began, sitting next to his friend, "…..I need you to sneak me into Chickasaw!"

_**Well, if you think like me, ya probably saw that comin'. I admit it seems simple enough, but then again, we are in Hazzard County.**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Camping?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"I just figured it'd do him good to get away for awhile." Cooter announced the next morning as he carried out the plan he and the Duke boy had formed to get into Chickasaw for a few days without Jesse knowing about it.

"Just where do you wanna take him camping?"

"Thought we might go over to Amnicola Falls." Cooter replied, referring to a well known place about an hour and a half east of Hazzard.

"Well, I don't know about that, Cooter." Jesse replied as his nephew walked into the kitchen. "We gotta lot of things to take care of here around the farm."

"Oh don't worry about that, Uncle Jesse." His nephew piped up. "I talked to Ray Newberry last night and he said he'd be glad to help out while I's gone."

Jesse snarled. His concerns lay more with keeping his nephew home rather than keeping the chores up, as if it would somehow keep him out of harm's way.

"Well you can just call Ray back and tell him to forgit it, 'cause it ain't his place to work this farm." Jesse announced.

"But he offered to do it. Besides, you know he owes us the favor. Don't forget how all of us went over there a couple of months ago and helped out when he was down in his back."

Jesse sighed. "I didn't forget, but yer supposed to do a kindness for your neighbor because it's the right thing to do, not 'cause you expect to be paid back in some form."

"Uncle Jesse, you know as well as anyone that we didn't go over there lookin' for a return on our favor. But Ray's offerin' to help, and I gotta get away for awhile. I just got to."

Jesse sighed again as he looked at his nephew's pleading eyes, tears threatening to pool in his own. "I can understand that. I guess I'm just scared, ya know."

"Don't worry, Uncle Jesse. I'll be right there with him the whole time." Cooter announced.

"You know, you could come too, Uncle Jesse." The Duke boy announced, knowing for a fact that his Uncle would turn him down as he was not particularly fond of camping any more. The gesture would help to make the trip at least seem more valid, anyway.

Uncle Jesse offered a small smile. "How long you think you'll be gone?"

"You think you can handle four days?"

"I can if you'll promise to get to a phone and check in with me every day."

The Duke boy smiled. "I promise."

XXX

"Well well well, Mr. Davenport. Now what in the world brings you into Chickasaw this fine day?" Sheriff Little asked as he stopped the tow truck just past the county line.

"Just takin' this ole' clunker over to Sammy at the junkyard." Cooter replied, jutting his thumb behind his shoulder toward the barely recognizable Plymouth that was hooked up to his truck.

"Billy, call Sammy and see if he's expectin' a wreck from Mr. Davenport today." Little ordered his deputy as he peered at the tow truck.

"Yes sir." Billy replied, picking up the CB.

"Now Mr. Davenport." Little continued as he walked back toward the wreck. "You wouldn't be tryin' to help your friends out, would you?"

"I don't know what you mean." Cooter replied as he got out and stood next to the sheriff.

"'Course you do. You must know that a certain young man by the name of Duke has tried unsuccessfully to get past me 'n my deputies for several days now. It'd stand to reason that he would look for…..other resources to get into the county."

He stopped at the trunk to the wreck and ran his fingers along the side. "You gotta key to this junk pile?"

"Nope." Cooter shook his head.

"Well then how about a crowbar?"

"Ain't got one of them either."

Little turned and put a hand on his hip. "A tow truck driver without a crowbar. That's a bit unusual, wouldn't you say?"

"Forgot it." Cooter replied simply.

"Oh well." Little replied, getting out his gun. "Well then, seein' as I ain't got no way of looking in the trunk, and it's just a beat up ole' thing anyway, I suppose it wouldn't matter if I used it for a little target practice, would it?"

"Now hang on Little!" Cooter replied, a bit of panic in his voice. "If you shoot that trunk lid up you're gonna hafta explain yourself to Sammy. He's done paid for this car and he's gittin' it specifically for the lid."

"Sheriff!" Billy called out, rushing up to him. "I just talked to Sammy and he did say he was expecting a car in from Hazzard today."

"He did?"

"Yes sir!"

"Well isn't that convenient?" He replied, turning back to Cooter. "The only think that ain't convenient is seein' in this trunk.

"Oh I got a master key here sheriff." Billy announced, pulling out a universal key that could unlock almost any lock. Little smiled victoriously as he stuck it in the keyhole and, with a little tugging, managed to open the warped trunk.

But inside, it was empty.

"Is this some sort of joke, Davenport?" He snarled, thinking the Duke boy would have been inside while Cooter, for the first time in days, was attempting to suppress a laugh.

"Hey, I told you I's just deliverin' a car, and Sammy verified it himself." Cooter replied.

Little moved his arm in a swinging motion. "Git out of here!"

Cooter simply tipped his hat before he slammed the trunk lid shut and ran back up to his tow truck. Offering Billy a slight wave, he grinned a bit as he rolled toward Capitol City.

Once he had rounded the corner and was out of site of Little, he pulled over next to a large stone at the side of the road which all the locals had dubbed 'Plymouth Rock'.

As soon as he stopped, the Duke boy rose from behind the rock and rushed down to the tow truck where he quickly slipped inside. Cooter got back on the road and quickly and observed his friend, who was drenched from head to toe.

"Have a little trouble crossin' the river?" He asked.

"Ah, I fell in." He replied, looking at the road behind them. "At least we're not being followed. Little must not suspect anything."

"Oh he expected somethin' alright, but he expected you to be in the trunk of this clunker back here. He checked it, too."

"Well, at least it offered a diversion away from the river. If he'd seen me crossing it, he'd known you'd dropped me off and planned to pick me up on the other side."

"Well we don't have that to worry about anymore. I'm just glad Sammy knows what's going on and has agreed to put us up while we're in Chickasaw. Beats sleepin' in the truck at night."

A little while later, the tow truck pulled up in town and parked in front of the hardware store, about three blocks down from the jewelers. Cooter figured if Little came along, it would be fairly obvious what was going on had he parked right in front of the store.

After a few moments of walking, the Duke boy paused as he started to enter the jewelry story, noticing a large, fairly fresh stain on the road just in front, and small markings made by the police to pinpoint locations of objects surrounding the crime. For a brief moment, he felt himself almost fall, but he was grabbed by his friend.

"You gonna be able to do this?" Cooter asked, not in the best shape himself.

"Yeah." The Duke boy whispered, consciously making himself look anywhere but at the road again. He looked at the jewelry store door and kept his eyes fixated on it as he walked inside, followed by Cooter.

"Afternoon, gentlemen." A well dressed man who appeared to be in his late twenties greeted them. "How can I help you today?"

"We were hoping you might be able to tell us something about the robbery last week." The Duke boy began.

The man arched his eyebrow. "You're with the police?"

"No, we're not with the police." Cooter replied, nodding toward the Duke boy. "The young man that was shot is his cousin, and from what we understand, the suspects are still at large."

"And you're here to get some information from us so you can track them down yourselves?" The jeweler asked.

"I'll stop at nothing to put my hands on those murderers." The Duke boy announced in an almost evil voice.

The jeweler was taken aback for a moment but then composed himself. Leaning forward on the counter he said. "I can tell you exactly who robbed this store!"

Cooter and the Duke boy looked at each other in surprise. "Who?" The Duke boy insisted.

"Adam Dennison's boys, Toby and Jerry!"

"Where do they live?" The Duke boy asked without missing a beat.

"Way back off Mayfield Meadow Road, up in the hills somewhere."

"How do you know it was them?" Cooter had to ask.

"'Cause I went to school with them and even with their faces covered up, I'd notice their stocky builds and rough voices any day."

"Well if you know who they are why hasn't Sheriff Little done anything?" Cooter asked, flabbergasted.

"Cause he can't find there house. No one finds their house unless they want you to, and they don't want nobody findin' it!"

"Well like it or not, they're gonna be found!" The Duke boy stormed out, leaving Cooter behind to thank the jeweler.

Once the pair had time to get down the street, the jeweler turned to pick up the phone.

"Joe, it's Jamie. I just thought you and Shawn might wanna know there's a couple of guys in town lookin' for ya………………….Don't worry, I took care of them. I sent 'em after Toby and Jerry!" Jamie laughed. "Yeah Ole' Adam 'ill take care of 'em. Any moonshiner that can make a revenuer disappear without repercussion ain't gonna have no qualms dealing with a couple of hayseeds!"

**_Don'tcha just hate it when one of the bad guys are standin' right in front of 'em and they don't even know it?_**


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure about this?" Cooter asked as the Duke boy sat behind the wheel of the tow truck that was barreling down the highway toward Mayfield Meadow Road.

"I ain't never been so sure of anything in my life." The Duke boy replied, switching gears once more.

"Are you really gonna go on the word of that jewelry store clerk? I mean, it looks to me like Sheriff Little would have at least told ya'll about that if it were true."

"Sheriff Little ain't lost no more love on us Dukes than Boss Hogg has." The Duke boy replied. "All these little towns around here's the same, corrupt officials who want do a dang thing about nothin' 'less it's to pad their own pocket."

Cooter didn't care for Sheriff Little, but he knew enough about him to know he wasn't a pocket padder. He also knew the Duke boy wasn't in any condition to think rationally. He decided it wouldn't hurt to check out the lead anyway. Checking anything out was far better than sittin' over in Hazzard frettin' over the whole thing as they had been doing.

Soon they turned onto Meadow Road and continued to drive until they were deep into the hills. Once pavement gave way to dirt, they sought out the first house that came into view and turned into the driveway. It was an old ramshackle white house with a mailbox out front bearing the name of Maples.

After they climbed out of the tow truck, they stepped over several lawn ornaments and a couple of lazy dogs before they made there way onto the porch where they knocked on the door. The response they received was the sound of more dogs barking inside as someone struggled to make their way to the front door, calling the dogs back.

Soon a rough looking old man in a pair of overalls and a worn cowboy hat peered at the pair with a frown on his face. "Somethin' I kin do fer you boys?" He asked.

"Sorry to bother you sir. We's hopin' you could point us to Adam Dennison's place." The Duke boy responded.

The man arched an eyebrow. "What business you boys got with Dennison?"

"Actually, we got business with……" The Duke boy replied, looking at Cooter for the names he had forgotten.

"Toby and Jerry." Cooter announced.

"You sure you boys wanna go up there?" Mr. Maples asked.

"Wouldn't be out here if we weren't sure."

Mr. Maples snarled. "Look, I don't know who you two are but ya look like nice kids. I'm tellin' ya right now, you ain't got no business goin' anywhere near tha Dennison place."

"We're old enough to know our business and we'll thank ya to mind yours, old timer." The Duke boy replied with unusual hostility.

That made Maples frown even more. "You jist wait right thar." He announced, slamming the door. The pair listened and looked at each other as he walked through the house, yelling at and tripping over the barking dogs before he returned to the front door a few moments later.

This time he had a rifle in his hand!

Cooter and the Duke instinctively put their hands up as they looked at the gun.

"You fellers are jumpier than a couple rabbits in a field full of traps. I ain't pointin' the thang at ya for heaven's sake."

The pair looked down and noticed that Mr. Maples was handing the rifle to them.

"I still say ya ain't got no business lookin' for the Dennison place, but if yer gonna go up thar then take this."

"Well thanks Mister, but I can't take your gun." The Duke boy replied.

"All things considered, it might not be a bad idea." Cooter announced, accepting the rifle from Mr. Maples.

Mr. Maples sighed. He would remind one of a much rougher, slightly older version of Jesse.

"I still say ya oughta stay outta thar. Just don't blame me when ya hard headedness ends up gittin' ya killed."

He pointed off to his left. "Ya jist keep on this road bout a quarter more mile. When ya git up near the crik, you'll see ah big ole' oak tree looks like it's 'bout dead off to ya left. There's a lil' ole' spot you kin pull off in on tha side of tha road. Park ye truck thar and cross the crik. Once ye do, you'll see ah trail beat that'll take ya on up in tha hills. That's the trail ole' Adam comes down whenever he ventures out, and it ain't that often. Sorry I can't tell ya more, but nobody know exactly where he lives, and if they got their senses about 'em, it'll stay that way."

"Thanks a lot mister." The Duke boy nodded in a hint of genuine appreciation. He and Cooter turned to walk over the dogs and lawn ornaments before they finally made their way back to the tow truck. Backing out of the driveway, they gave Mr. Maples a slight wave as he stood gazing at them with his trademark frown.

"Guess it don't take no genius to figure out that this Adam Dennison and his boys are heavy moonshiners." Cooter guessed. "And ya don't go dealin' with them kinda people empty handed. We've got the gun, but you sure you don't want to call Little to help out?"

"If Little was gonna do anything he'd done it already. The only thing that would accomplish is getting me kicked back out of Chickasaw, and I ain't goin', not when I'm this close to catchin' those killers."

The pair continued on in silence until they spotted the old oak tree up on the left. Finding the parking spot Mr. Maples had mentioned off to the side, they pulled over and cut the engine.

"Okay, here's the plan…." Cooter began.

But he didn't get to finish because the Duke boy opened the door and ran to the oak tree where he began to trudge across the creek. Cooter had no choice but to grab the rifle and follow him.

"There's the trail!" The Duke boy exclaimed, pointing to the beaten path before he grabbed at tree roots to hoist himself out of the creek.

"Just hang on a minute!" Cooter yelled behind him as he struggled to keep up.

But the Duke boy didn't listen, he rushed up the hill, huffing and puffing as he climbed further, stopping only when the trail split off in two directions.

"Would you stop, we need to talk about what we're gonna do!" Cooter insisted as he neared him once again.

"I know……exactly what I'm gonna do……when I get my hands on them." The Duke boy managed between heavy breaths as he decided on the path branching off to his left. Before Cooter had a chance to stop him, he turned to run on the path, getting a few feet ahead of his friend.

But that's as far as he got.

Without realizing it, he had stepped into a net that was spread out onto the ground. He suddenly gasped as he felt himself flying through the air! As the net closed up around him and he was left dangling high in a tree!

_**Don't know why that little flyin' trip scared him. Mustave been 'cause he wasn't in his car.**_


	7. Chapter 7

"Cooter!" The Duke boy exclaimed, looking down and seeing his friend a far distance below.

"Just hang on!" Cooter shouted back.

"Now's not the time for jokes!" The Duke boy replied.

"Who's joking? Just wait a minute, I'll figure out how to get you outta there." He announced as he scanned nearby trees, looking for one that was suitable to climb.

The Duke boy jerked his head as he heard footsteps in the forest and voices that seemed to be getting closer fast. "Ya might wanna make that minute a second. Sounds like trouble's comin'!"

Cooter peered through the trees and heard the sounds too. "I bet that's Dennison!"

"Get me outta here!" The Duke boy exclaimed as he began to pull on the netting in an attempt to break it apart.

"I know! I can shoot ya down!" Cooter announced.

"Are you crazy? That'll bring 'em in a hurry for sure. And ya only got one shot, once it's gone, were sittin' ducks!"

As the voices moved closer, Cooter looked back up at him. "We gotta git ya down now or we're gonna be in a whole heap a trouble!"

The Duke boy realized he was right. "Alright, but I ain't gonna look!" He replied, not all that anxious to look at the ground and see a gun seemingly pointing straight at him, knowing that it was definitely going to go off.

He turned and whispered a small prayer, hoping that Cooter was a good marksman. With only shot, if Cooter missed, not only would he be left in the net but he would be left there with absolutely no protection.

Shortly after the shot was fired, the Duke boy suddenly felt himself falling to the ground. As the voices began to get even louder, he turned his arms preparing to land in the best way possible.

Despite his best efforts, it was a long fall and he hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of him. As he struggled to breathe, he felt himself being scooped up by Cooter, who ran carrying him as quickly as he could down the hill they had climbed.

"There they are Pa!" He heard a voice yell out behind him.

'Pa' was a real shoot first and ask questions later kinda guy. Cooter felt chills run up and down his spine as a bullet whizzed past him. Instincts outweighed thought at that moment and he dropped to the ground, dropping the Duke boy who slid down the hill until he landed in the creek with a splash.

"I'll teach you boys ta trespass on my property!" Dennison yelled, pointing the gun at Cooter once again. He and his boys stopped in a hurry when Cooter pointed Mr. Maples' rifle right back at them.

Not quite sure what to do next, the gapped-tooth hillbilly took a moment to size Cooter up.

"Whatche doin' out here? You with tha feds?"

"Don't know what you're talkin' about. Me and my buddy's just out huntin'." Cooter replied, purposefully giving the trio a mean stare as he stood to his feet.

"Kinda hard for ya buddy there ta hunt without a gun, ain't it?" One of the boys piped up.

When Cooter didn't answer, Dennison continued. "If all you's doin' is huntin' why'd ya take off when ya heard us comin'?"

"You'd took off too if ya got in a trap somebody was settin' in the woods and that somebody was comin' toward ya." Cooter revealed. "Besides, why you so worried about us anyway? Ya got somethin' to hide up there?"

Cooter decided that wasn't the smartest thing he could have said when one of the boys shouted out. "Shoot 'em Pa!"

In response, Cooter raised the sights of the rifle to his eye in a threatening manner.

"Go ahead Pa that ain't no double barrel!" The other shouted.

With his choices limied to standing there and calling their bluff or running, both of which would probably result in him being shot, Cooter's senses went numb and he simply stood there, hoping they would somehow think that he'd had time to load the rifle again.

And then, a gun went off.

Dennison and his boys found themselves standing there with a look of surprise on their faces.

Cooter pulled his own rifle down to observe the trio as they looked at the gun Dennison had been holding which was now laying on the ground, shot clean out of his hands. In a moment, Dennison composed himself and reached to pick up the rifle when a voice spoke up.

"Ya git any closer ta that rifle Dennison and I won't miss next time!"

Cooter turned and looked toward the source of the voice. There in the creek stood Mr. Maples, one arm wound around a heavily breathing, soaked Duke boy and the other bearing the second rifle he owned.

"Ya go on, Brownie, none of this concerns you!" Dennison huffed angrily.

"Ya heard the boy Adam. They's up here huntin'. Now you best jest accept it and git back home 'fore thangs git ugly for ya!"

Dennison gave Mr. Maples an evil stare before he reached down for his rifle. Mr. Maples, or Brownie as he was better known, kept his rifle trained.

"You kin come back fer that later after these boys is gone!"

"Well they better git goin', and I better not see 'em 'round here no more either."

"You kin jest rest yer head Adam. These boys ain't gonna hunt here no more."

With another stare, Adam ordered Toby and Jerry back up into the hills with him. Once they had walked on a few yards, Cooter turned and rushed down to his friend.

"You alright?" He asked, taking the Duke boy's weight onto himself and off of Brownie.

"I just got the wind knocked outta me. I'll be alright in a few minutes." The Duke boy confirmed as he struggled to breathe.

"Let jist get you two outta here 'fore Adam really gets riled." Brownie told them as he kept his gun trained on the departing Dennisons. Cooter put his friend's arm around his own shoulders and led him back to the tow truck, imagining what a 'really riled' Dennison would do, considering what he'd tried that time.

Once they were inside, they called Brownie over. He joined them and they drove him the short distance back to his place.

Ya need ta bring him in and let him sit down a spell 'till he's better." Brownie advised, nodding toward the Duke boy.

"I'll think I'll be alright in a minute." The Duke boy advised as he continued deep breaths.

"I'll git tha dogs outta tha house." Brownie told Cooter, completely ignoring the Duke boy. He went through the yard, nudging the lazy dogs out of the path before he entered the house to a parade of barks.

"We might as well go in. That old timer saved our skins today and he deserves a proper thanks." Cooter announced.

The Duke boy nodded and Cooter assisted him across the yard again. By the time they had crossed the porch to the front door, Brownie was pushing the screen door open to usher them inside.

Once they entered the Duke boy went and sat on the couch, trying to ignore the strong scent of dogs. Cooter handed Brownie's rifle back to him.

"Thanks a lot Mr. Maples. A whole lot. If you hadn't given us that rifle .." Cooter trailed off.

"I knew ya'd never make it outta thar alive without it." Brownie replied. "And I knew there's a good chance ya wouldn't make it with it. That's why I followed ya up thar. Thought it'd even up the odds a little."

Before Cooter had a chance to respond, Brownie went to his kitchen cupboard where he pulled out a moonshine jug. Coming back into the living room, he handed it to Cooter. "I know this stuff kin be awful addictin', but ain't none of it worth goin' around tha Dennison place. You take this and remember that next time."

The shine looked awful good right about then but Cooter reluctantly held up his hand. "You've got us wrong, Mr. Maples. We wasn't up there to get no shine."

"Oh?" Brownie arched an eyebrow. "Then why was ya up thar?"

Brownie found himself having to sit down as the Duke boy related the whole story to him about his cousin's murder on down to the advice from the jeweler. When he ended at last, Brownie was shaking his head.

"Adam Dennison may be the meanest, orneriest, scariest ole coot in Chicasaw County but I kin 'bout promise you boys him and his youngin's didn't have nothin' to do with robbin' that jewelry store. They jest wouldn't."

"Well that's what the clerk told us. He said he recognized 'em from school." Cooter reminded him.

"He has ta have his facts wrong. What's them cops 'round here found out so far?"

"They ain't told me nothin'." The Duke boy confessed. "You see, Sheriff Little sorta knows me, and he knew if I had any information, I'd be over here trying to find those thieves myself."

"Considerin' you're over here anyway, it seems Little knows ya a lot, if ya ask me." Brownie managed a grin before it disappeared. "I saw yer cousin that day. He's a handsome young man. It tears my heart up to see young good lookin' folks go down like that. I sure don't wanna hafta see it no more, 'specially if they's somethin' I can do to prevent it."

With that, he got up from where he sat and went to the phone. "Sarah, this is Brownie. Git me deputy Chris over at the police station."

Instinctively, the Duke boy jumped up and curled his fists in anger. The nice old man was about to have him sent home!

"Chris, this is ya grandpappy. Ya need to git over ta my house and ya need ta git over here right now!"

**_Ya'll ever heard of Jesse maybe havin' a brother named Brownie over in Chickasaw? 'Cause them two sure seem to think an awful lot alike._**


	8. Chapter 8

"Never mind what fer. Ya git on over here 'cause I told ya to, that's why!" Brownie ordered into the phone before he hung up. "You boys just sit tight. My grandson'll be here in a minute."

"I ain't gonna sit nowhere!" The Duke boy exclaimed. "I didn't go through all that trouble to get in Chicasaw County to let some old codger call the cops on me!" He added with an edge to his voice.

"Now ya jist hold on." Brownie stopped him. "I ain't callin' him on you. Now ya need some help and it ain't gonna hurt for ya ta git some inside information, is it?"

The Duke Boy finally realized what he was doing. He offered the old man a guilty smile. "You sure your grandson won't get into trouble, Mr. Maples?"

"Ya jist don't worry about that. We have our way of dealin' with Little over here jist like you Hazzard folks have got yer sheriff figured out." Brownie assured him. "And you kin stop callin' me Mr. Maples. Most folks know me as plain ole Brownie."

The Duke boy nodded his head. "I'm sorry I misjudged you, Brownie. Guess I'm not thinkin' to rationally."

"Ah don't know anybody that would goin' thru whatcha are."

The Duke boy nodded. "Do you mind if I use your phone? I gotta check in with my Uncle Jesse."

"If that Uncle Jesse of yorn is anythin' like me, Ah'd sure wanna hear from ya. Ya go right ahead."

As the Duke boy went to the phone, Cooter settled on the couch to await Brownie's grandson. As the old man sat in his easy chair, Cooter looked at him quizzically. "I gotta ask, Mr. Map….er….Brownie. Is that really your name?"

"Names just Brown, actually. Brown Maples. Got mah first name from my momma's side of tha family. He name was Penelope Brown 'fore she married. Now I gotta ask you…." He continued as he looked at the mechanic.

"Is your name really Cooter?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

A little while later, a young man in a deputy's uniform burst through the door and caught the trio that sat there off guard.

"Pop! Pop!" He yelled out through the house before realizing that his grandfather was sitting in his favorite chair. "Pop, ya alright?"

"'Course I am youngin'. Everthangs alright." Brownie assured him.

As Chris surveyed the living room and saw the friends sitting there calmly, he replaced his gun in his holster. "Dang it Pop! Ya gotta quit doin' that to me! You're gonna cost me my badge one day callin' me out on these false alarms."

"False alarm? Ah didn't ever say there's no emergency."

"Well that's because you hung up before I had a chance to ask you! You live so dang close to that Dennison bunch that's all I can ever think about when ya call me like that!"

"Well if it makes ya feel any better, tha reason fer my call does involve tha police." Brownie announced, motioning to the friends. "Chris this is Cooter Davenport and…………"

"I know you." Chris interrupted, pointing his finger. "You're that Duke boy, the one Sheriff Little told us to keep outta Chicasaw!"

With that, Chris went over and picked up Brownie's phone. Brownie marched right behind him and jerked it out of his hand before he hung up again.

"You kin jist ferget 'bout that job o' yours fer two seconds and sat down in that chair over thar." He advised his grandson, pointing to the chair he had just vacated.

"But Pop, Sheriff Little……"

"And jist when did anything the sheriff had ta say become more important that what ya grandpappy has to say?" Brownie asked. "Now do like I tell ya and sit down. Jist 'cause ya growed up 'n moved outta this house don't mean I still can't take a switch to ya."

The Duke boy couldn't help but chuckle a bit as the beefy cop was reduced to sitting in a chair by a skinny old mountain man.

Once Chris had settled, Brownie pointed to the Duke boy. "Now ya done admitted ya know who he is, so if ya know that then ya know what he went thru ta git over here."

"Well I can understand why he's here Pop, but if Sheriff Little knew about this….."

"Ah kin see tha sheriff's point a view. After what happened to his cousin, he don't wanna see him meet tha same fate no matter how he feels about him. But considerin' tha fact that this thang is purty near ah week old and none of ya at tha sheriff's department seems ta know nothin' yet, can ya blame him for bein' here? What would ya do if that woulda been me layin' in front o' that store?"

Chris flinched his jaw. "I'd been doin' the same thing." He reluctantly admitted.

Brownie smiled. "Well, now that we ain't got Little ta worry with no more, perhaps you kin tell these boys some information that might be of use."

Chris looked at the pair. "I wish I could help you, but to tell you the truth, the information we have on the case ourselves is very limited. There were only two witnesses to the crime and the getaway, and what they did manage to tell us was not that useful. We also got a few pieces of evidence from the crime scene, but nothing that seems very significant."

"What kind of evidence?" The Duke boy asked.

"Nothin' at all, really. A few fingerprints, but mostly trash if you ask me. After the crime, one of our deputies simply swept the entire walkway in front of the store and bagged it all up."

"Where is that bag now?" Cooter asked.

"In the evidence room back at the station."

"Can you get it for us?"

"Not without riskin' my badge." Chris replied, immediately looking at his grandfather. "And I worked too hard to git it, Pop!"

"Whal I kin understand that." Brownie replied with a knowing grin. "But jist 'cause ya can't hand it out ta them over tha counter don't mean ya can't thank of ah way fer them ta git it themselves."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, he just opened the window. Now we'll wait a couple of minutes." Cooter announced as he and his friend were hid out in some bushes near the police station in town.

Chris had laid out his plan for them to get inside. He would go back to work and open the window to the evidence room for them. While he did his best to keep the other officers out, it would then be up to the friends to climb inside and obtain the evidence for themselves. Getting it seemed simple enough, as once they were inside they simply had to look for the filing cabinet marked 'D' for Duke. The problem with it all was doing it without getting caught.

"Okay, let's go!" The Duke boy said a couple of minutes later, dashing toward the open window with Cooter close behind.

"Ready?" Cooter asked, twining his fingers together and squatting down to make a step for his friend.

The Duke boy nodded and placed a worn boot in Cooter's hand. On the count of three, Cooter boosted him up where he climbed inside the open window.

Once he was inside, Cooter hid off to the side while the Duke boy closed the window. Having been in the bright sunlight, it took him a moment to adjust to the dark conditions inside.

Once his eyes were focused, he crouched down as he looked around the room, where filing cabinets circled the walls and another set lined the middle of the room. After a few minutes, he finally found the cabinet market 'D' and eased open the top drawer, where he began searching for his cousin's name.

When he had made it to the third drawer, he finally found the file he was looking for. Pulling out the bag Chris had spoken about, he glanced at the contents.

"Where you goin' Sheriff Little?" He heard Chris yell outside.

In a panic, the Duke boy dropped the bag in his shirt and closed the drawer.

"I ain't deaf, Maples. I'm just goin' in the evidence room."

With the window closed the Duke boy didn't have many options. As the doorknob turned, he found himself not knowing where to go—and in a direct path to be seen by Sheriff Little!

_**Ole' Chris did his best there, but there just ain't no stoppin' 240 lbs of pure mean.**_


	9. Chapter 9

As the door cracked open, the Duke boy stood there, waiting for the inevitable.

"Hey Sheriff!" Someone called from outside.

He watched as the door stopped. "What is it Smith?"

"We gotta problem down in cell C. Ya might wanna come check it out!"

With that, Sheriff Little closed the door again. The Duke boy watched his shadow through the frosted glass window as he beat a hasty retreat.

Once Little was out of sight, he took only a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before beating a retreat of his own. He rushed over to the window where he risked a peep out, surveying the surroundings to make sure he wouldn't be seen. Fortunately, some oversized holly bushes nearby helped to camouflage the window, leaving only one particular area of the square that had to be clear.

Seeing his friend appear at the window again, Cooter began his own survey, finally turning toward him moments later to give him an 'all clear' nod. The Duke boy quickly opened the window and slipped outside.

Nodding to each other, the friends walked behind the bushes in silence until they were about a half-block from the police station. Then, they casually walked to the old black Ford that was parked at the side of the block….the one that they had borrowed from Sammy the junkyard man on the way into town that evening.

"Boy, I had a close call in there." The Duke boy announced once they had cleared the city limits, telling Cooter about his near-capture by Sheriff Little himself. Cooter let out a low whistle followed by a huge grin when his friend showed him the bag he had managed to retrieve.

"Chris was right." Cooter remarked as he drove, making a quick survey of the contents. "Mostly looks like dirt and leaves. A bunch of trash."

"Yeah, well sometimes looks can be deceiving." The Duke boy replied, his brow creased in concentration as he turned the bag over in his hands.

"Why don't we take that bag over to Sammy's and get a bite to eat and some shuteye? It'll be dark soon."

"We can go, but only to figure out what we're looking at. Won't be much rest for me 'fore that happens."

Cooter simply drove on without further comment.

About 15 minutes later, he wound the car through the old junkyard to the building out in the middle that not only served as an office, but as Sammy's home. Despite it's dilapidated outward appearance, the interior was surprisingly welcoming and cozy as far as bachelor pads went.

"Well, here we are." Cooter announced, cutting the engine. "Whaddaya say we at least eat……." He trailed off as he looked at his friend, a smile of amusement appearing on his face.

Somewhere along the short trip, the Duke boy had fallen asleep, his head slumped over at an odd angle that could only be comforting in pure exhaustion. It was little wonder though with all the running he had done that day. Cooter was almost tempted to leave him there, and would have, had he not looked so uncomfortable.

"Hey!" He said, nudging his shoulder. "Here we are!"

When the Duke boy didn't respond he tried again. "Oh no! Uncle Jesse's here!" He exclaimed in an excited voice.

Again, there was no response. That confirmed it. He was really out.

Sighing, Cooter opened the door and called Sammy for assistance. Together they ejected the boy from the Ford, where he was carried inside like an overgrown kid and placed on a cot downstairs. After throwing a couple of blankets on him and dimming the lights, Cooter and Sammy shared a meal of beef stew. The Duke boy, who had insisted on staying awake, wouldn't even know where he was until late the next morning.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As he slowly returned to consciousness, he could hear voices surrounding him.

"When's he gonna wake up?"

"Suzanne, he don't need to be awake for you to pick up the bag and take it back to that fancy college of yours down in Rome."

"Yeah, but it'd make it a might easier for him to return my kiss if he's awake!" She replied with a giggle.

"That's a fiery redhead for ya." Sammy commented as his younger sister gazed dreamily at the Duke boy. "From what I can recall, it was his cousin you's sweet on."

"I wasn't never sweet on him!" She retorted with a sheepish grin. "Okay, well I was but I didn't wanna have to compete with all them other girls over in Hazzard who felt the same way. Always thought I stood a better chance with this one."

"Suzanne, you're wastin' your time and ours. Even if he was in the mood for girls right now, which he's not, everybody knows that you'd have plenty of competition for him too."

Suzanne crossed her arms. "So this is really it? Really all that you called me up here for? To pick up some lil' ole' bag of dirt?"

"Well it wadn't to set you up on no date with a Duke boy, that's for sure!" Sammy replied.

Frowning in frustration, Suzanne rose from the cot where she sat and walked over to her brother. She jerked the bag out of his hand and scanned it. So what exactly are you hoping to find out about this junk?"

"What's going on?." The Duke boy asked, now awake and yawning.

"What's going on….." Suzanne began, looking at her brother. "Is that 'fancy forensics degree' I'm working toward, the one that Sammy always said would never be of use has, for reasons known only to him, brought me back home today."

"Suzanne, I ain't got time to argue with you. Now this bag of stuff was swept up from outside the jewelry store after his cousin was shot. Now, if you really want that kiss I can't think of no better way for you to earn it that to high tail it back to school and see what you can come up with."

Suzanne's eyes widened as she looked at the bag. "Why this could be evidence! How did ya'll end up with it?"

"Never mind how. Point is, we got it. Now are you gonna see if all that book learnin' has got you anywhere in life or aren't ya?" Sammy asked.

"Actually…." She replied turning toward the Duke boy with a smile. "This could be considered my first job in forensics. And when it comes to work, I alway get paid in advance." She announced, puckering up for her kiss.

The Duke boy offered her a small smile. He usually wasn't one to turn down a kiss from a pretty girl but, as Sammy had pointed out, romance wasn't at the front of his mind these days. Nevertheless, he was willing to do what it took to get things rolling. Taking Suzanne in his arms, he planted one of his trademark romantic kiss on her lips.

"Wow!" She exclaimed when he released her, offering him a smile as she walked toward the door with the bag. "That made my foot hurt…..got real heavy just all of a sudden." She winked at Sammy before she closed the door.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Cooter asked in confusion as a car started up outside and quickly drove away.

Sammy laughed. "That means that she's got a led foot…..and she's gonna be back at school in no time."

_**Don't it just do your heart good to see somethin' goin' right for a change?**_


	10. Chapter 10

"So how do I look?" The Duke boy asked, pushing a baseball cap onto his head.

Cooter turned to look at the Duke boy who sat in the passenger seat of the black Ford, wearing a green shirt. "Ya look like you're wearin' green for a change."

"Seriously Coot, can ya tell who I am?" He asked, adjusting the collar on the oversized shirt that came from Sammy's wardrobe.

"Well….I suppose I wouldn't know you right off hand in passing. But if I really looked…..""

"Well maybe this will help." He interrupted, putting on a pair of sunglasses. "You might wanna put yours on too."

"Now how are we supposed to see anything with these things on?" Cooter argued, putting on the glasses and brushing some lint from his own green shirt that matched his friend's.

"We'll just have to do our best." The Duke boy replied, nodding toward the jewelry store that they were parked in front of. "I intend to comb every inch of that sidewalk to see if anything was left behind after that sweep. Without these disguises, it wouldn't take long for one of Little's deputies to figure out who we are."

"Wouldn't you rather wait and see what Suzanne has to say? Sammy's sittin' by the phone back at the junkyard and promised to call us soon as he heard anything."

"If I had the time I would, but I gotta keep looking, Cooter. Uncle Jesse expects me home in a couple of days and if I don't find them guys by then, I just don't know what excuse I could make to leave the farm and the chores behind again."

Cooter nodded. "I see your point."

"Okay. We'll just turn up the CB and go on. You got those hedge clippers?"

Cooter picked up the two pairs of clippers that had also been lent to them by Sammy. Handing one pair to his friend, they got out of the car and headed toward the front of the jewelry store.

_**Now in case ya'll are wondering what them hedge clippers and the twin disguises are about, well, ya gotta figure that robbery is a bit too fresh for the locals to put up with anybody hanging around the front of the store just yet. So our Duke boy came up with the idea for the pair of them to pose as hired groundskeepers.**_

"Now remember, pick up anything you see, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Something as simple as a brand name written on a cigarette butt can be the clue that breaks the case."

Cooter simply nodded as he went to the right of the door and commenced to trimming the bush, stopping on occasion to pick up anything of interest. The Duke boy remained on the left, doing the same thing. They froze up for a minute when they saw a patrol car cruise by, but the officer didn't seem to take much notice.

"You guys from Bucks?"

The Duke boy almost dropped his clippers when he heard that voice right behind him. Whirling around, he came face to face with Jamie, the clerk from the jewelry store!

"Bucks?" He stuttered.

"You are with Bucks Landscaping, correct?" Jamie asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You'll have to excuse him. He's got a touch of laryngitis with the pollen these days." Cooter replied, having rushed over. "Yeah, we're with Bucks."

"Well why are you here?"

Cooter paused a minute as he looked at the store. "Well to take care of your lawn and flowerbeds. Why else?"

"But a couple of your guys were just out here yesterday."

"Oh….right. Well, the boss came by this morning and wasn't too happy with the way these shrubs looked, so he sent us back by to trim 'em up a lil' better."

"That's right." The Duke boy piped up.

Jamie shook his head. "You're laryngitis just come and go like that?" He asked before reaching over and taking off his sunglasses. Cooter noticed that he didn't look very surprised to see who it was.

"Aren't you the two that were in here yesterday asking about the robbery?"

"Look, don't call the cops on us. If Sheriff Little finds out we're over here…….."

"Relax." Jamie replied, holding up his hands. "From my conversation with him concerning the robbery, I learned real quick that it's a waste of time to talk to him. But what are you doing out here trimming bushes? I think it's safe to say those robbers are long gone."

"We're not exactly trimming bushes. We're looking for anything that might point us in the direction of the guys that did this." The Duke boy replied.

Jamie forced a smile. "Well it's comforting to know somebody's working the case, but I told you yesterday who committed the crime."

"We checked out the lead, but it's not any of the Dennison's." Cooter announced.

"It certainly looked like the Dennison's to me. Are you certain?" Jamie asked, wondering how they got past the moonshining family.

"Well we weren't certain, but Brownie wasand he's known them a long time. We trust his judgment."

"Brownie?" Jamie asked in genuine interest.

"Brown Maples, a neighbor of their's over on Mayfield Meadow Road." Cooter replied as the C.B. came to life.

"This here's Tinker callin' the Next Door Neighbors. Either you boys gotcha ears on?"

Cooter and the Duke boy rushed over to the car. "This here's Next Door Neighbor # 1, come back." Cooter replied.

"Just got a call from lil' red down in Rome. Seems our stash contained a piece of a leaf from a Franklin tree."

"A Franklin tree?" The Duke boy frowned. "That don't mean nothin' to me." He spoke into the C.B.

"Well it might when you hear the rest of the story." Sammy continued.

"HEY! YOU TWO!"

Cooter and the Duke boy quickly looked up at the source of the voice. They were disheartened to see Sheriff Little leaned out the window of his patrol car, pointing a beefy finger at them!

"I thought that's you, Duke! You're not supposed to be in Chicasaw County!"

Dropping the C.B., the friends turned and dashed into the city square. Calling for backup, the sheriff steered toward them and the chase was on!"

_**Now just how fast do ya'll reckon they can run?**_


	11. Chapter 11

The friends ran without really knowing where they were going, but as they stole brief glimpses behind them, one fact became clear quite quickly: the best way to lose Little would be to duck down one of the narrow town alleys.

Rushing into the first one they came upon, they heard a crash behind them as Little realized too late that the alley was too narrow for a car. Banging the steering wheel in frustration, he jumped out of the car and took a second to observe the front end. While the body damage wasn't that terrible, something had apparently been jarred inside which rendered the car at least temporarily unusable. Turning toward the friends, he dashed into the alley on foot. The friends, having instinctively paused to observe the wreck, quickly brought their minds back to the task at hand when they discovered that their chosen path of escape led to a dead end.

"Quick! The ladder!" Cooter exclaimed, pointing to a rusted ladder that blended in with the red brick wall.

"You two hold it right there or I'll hafta put you in jail instead of sending you home!" Little demanded as he ran.

The threat had little effect on eitherof them because either result would, at best, mean the end of the search.. At worst, Little was pulling their chain and had every intention of jailing them one way or another.

Taking the rungs two at a time, the friends raced to the top of the building. Seeing some long forgotten sandbags at the top, Cooter reached down for one, intent on throwing it down on Little as he climbed the ladder. Guessing his thought, the Duke boy stopped him and urged him to run ahead. He didn't want caught any more than Cooter did, but hoisting a fifty pound bag onto the top of an officer's head as he was on a ladder would surely make him fall, and turn what was a simple escape into attempted murder.

The Duke boy neared the edge of the building and looked down in the square. It only took a brief glance for him to know that two cops from the nearby jail had answered Little's backup call. It also took him only that long to realize that Sammy's black Ford also now sat in the clear, having previously been blocked by Little's car.

He slapped Cooter's arm with the back of his hand two times quickly before pointing toward the car. Cooter nodded as Little ascended the ladder with his deputies close behind. Not used to the full blown foot chases that were almost an everyday occurrence over in Hazzard, Little found himself bent over trying to catch his breath.

The act afforded the friends the few precious seconds they would need. Fortunately, the space between the building they were on and the next one over was only about ten feet. Backing up a bit, they ran simultaneously and hurled over the alley toward the next building. As their feet touched the roof, the Duke boy slipped and fell forward, taking a second to recover from the blunt force. Pulling his friend up, Cooter urged him toward a door that led down to the store below.

It was their good luck that the door was unlocked. Dashing inside quickly, they took a moment to turn the lock behind them. When they descended the stairs and found themselves on the second floor, they realized that it was used by the clothing store below to house dusty forgotten boxes and unused merchandise displays. Now it was their turn for a much needed break. But as they heard the door rattle above them, they looked at each other wondering how long that break would last.

"Johnson! You double back in case they try to come out of the store!" Little demanded as he worked against the lock.

Johnson was exhausted himself but knew that to do anything other than follow Little's orders would put the sheriff in an outrage. Taking a much needed deep breath, he turned and ran, leaping back over the opening of the narrow alley below.

Little, being who he was, only took seconds to become frustrated enough to kick the door in, which wasn't that hard considering the weathered door had most likely sat atop the building more or less undisturbed since it's construction.

After he and his deputy, Ben Dixon, descended the stairs, they stopped short when they entered the storage room. Although the door leading down to the first floor was open, Little wasn't stupid. He knew this would be the perfect place for the friends to hide. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the tops of matching green hats and shoulders ducked behind a stack of boxes.

"Alright Duke, Davenport." Little began, getting his gun out while Dixon did the same. "The game's over. Now you boys come outta there nice and easy."

When no effort to move was made. Little became even more cross. "I told you boys ta get up! Noow if I hafta tell ya again, you'll be in jail for the weekend!"

When, again, there was no movement, Little turned to Dixon. "Get them outta there!"

"Alright guys." Dixon said, moving toward them. "You're under arrest."

When he placed his hand on a shoulder, what happened next very nearly made him scream!

That's because the movement caused the head to fall off---the head of one of the mannequins that had been quickly outfitted in the landscaping attire!

Little took only a moment to stare at the armless, legless torso before rushing toward the window. Looking into the square, he spied two shirtless Hazzard boys being pursued byJohnson. Reaching the black Ford once again, they peeled away from town, leaving an exhausted officer to catch his breath.

"Boy." The Duke boy said, heaving deep breaths as he drove out of town. "That was a close call."

"A little too close, I'd say." Cooter replied between breaths of his own.

The pair continued to ride out of town in no particular direction. Although they didn't see anyone in pursuit, they deliberately took several turns, some on rather bumpy roads, in order to thwart any would-be chasers.

After a few minutes, they felt comfortable enough to take a break. Coming up on a secluded pond, they parked under a big shade tree and cut the engine before walking down to drink and splash some water on their sweat drenched skin.

"Well, seems we're safe from Little….for now anyway." The Duke boy announced.

Cooter nodded. "It helps that his police force isn't that much bigger than Hazzard's."

"I suppose, but that's bound to change. Seein' how I'm a citizen of Hazzard, he's liable to call Rosco over here to help look for me."

"Well who says that's a bad thing? Rosco's been just as anxious as you have to get them crooks. A call from Little would make his day, since Little would see he got temporary jurisdiction rights."

The Duke boy sighed. "The only bad thing about all that would be the fact that if he called Rosco, chances are that Jesse would find out I's over here too. And that wouldn't be good…..wouldn't be good at all."

"Then what we gotta do is make sure Jesse don't find out."

"How do yousuggest we go about that?"

"Let's get Sammy on the horn. We'll have him call over to Hazzard and talk to Rosco, kinda explain what's goin' on before Rosco opens that big trap of his."

The friends walked back up the hill to the Ford where they climbed back in. Reaching for the CB, Cooter put out a call to Sammy, but all he got back was dead air. Frowning, he examined the device and noted that some wiring had fell loose in the bumpy escape.

"Dang! It'd take a good twenty minutes to fix this!" Cooter complained.

"We ain't got that kinda time." The Duke boy replied. "It'd be faster just to drive back over there."

"Oh we can't do that. I told Little at that roadblock yesterday that I's comin' to see Sammy. Chances are that's the first place he's gonna go when he starts lookin' for you."

"I know where we can go!" The Duke boy snapped his fingers. "We can go back over to Brownie's. Sheriff Little probably wouldn't even think to look there, seein' how Chris is on the force."

"And Brownie sure ain't gonna let Chris say nothin'!" Cooter exclaimed, as his friend started up the car and headed in the direction of Brownie's house."

XXXXXXXX

"Well thar you boys are!" Brownie smiled when he answered the door, taking a moment to tell his dogs, which were in the pen outside, to hush. "Ah been wonderin' what became of ya. Ain't heard from ya since ya cut outta here with Chris yesterday."

"We don't mean to be rude Brownie, but we gotta use your phone!" The Duke boy exclaimed, pushing past the old man.

"Whal can't it wait? Ah got somethin' to tell ya."

"I'm afraid not, Brownie." Cooter answered for his friend as the Duke boy dialed the Hazzard Police Station.

Brownie looked at the pair and grinned. "Whatcha been out doin'? Lose ya shirts in a bet?"

"Enos! Is Rosco there?" The Duke boy asked into the phone. "Yes I'm fine Enos. Yeah, she's fine. Everybody's fine. Can ya put Rosco on the line?" He waited a few moments as a movement inside Brownie's house caught Cooter's attention. Cooter's mouth dropped open at the sight to which the Duke boy had his back turned. He desperately found himself wanting to warn his friend but his feet seemed glued to the ground and he couldn't make himself utter a sound.

"Rosco! It's me. Listen…..you might be getting a call from Sheriff Little. Now I ain't got time for details and I ain't gonna tell you your job, but I am gonna ask you to keep quiet about that call. No matter what you hear, or what you decide, just please don't tell Uncle Jesse!"

"Don't tell Uncle Jesse what?"

The Duke boy froze up when he heard those words and felt a warm breath on the back of his neck.

And his fears were confirmed when he turned around and met the gaze of a very angry old man in a red cap!

_**Ya know, with Jesse lookin' like that, I'd personally rather take my chances with big Sheriff Little.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_(Hey folks, what happened to all my faithful reviewers? You are missed!)_

"Oh please go on, 'cause I'm real interested in whatcha hafta say." Jesse continued in an eerily neutral tone as his nephew stood dumbstruck. "Maybe ya wanna tell Rosco there how ya lied to me when you said you's goin' campin', or maybe you kin tell him how you snookered your friend here into getting' ya past Sheriff Little, or maybe he'd even like ta know how ya decided for yourself that you's goin' after them murderers knowin' how dead set against it I was!"

As the Duke boy stood there speechless, the only thing that could be heard was Rosco's questioning voice on the other end of the line. After a moment, he numbly hung up the receiver without offering Rosco and explanation or a goodbye. "Uncle Jesse, I didn't mean……"

"What? You didn't mean what? Didn't mean fer me ta find out you's over here? I suppose if you'd a got shot, you wouldn't mean fer that ta happen either!"

"If you'd just let me explain……."

"Ya ain't got nothin' to explain! Nothin' at all! Ya lied to me boy and that nulls any explanations you can come up with!"

Brownie looked in fascination at the Dukes. When he hadn't heard back from the friends, he'd called the Duke farm and asked about them, not knowing that Jesse was oblivious to the whole search. And he'd remained innocent to that fact until this moment.

A fuming Jesse walked over to Brownie's coat rack from which a belt hung and took it off. "Now I'm gonna explain to you what happens when you skeer me like this!"

The Duke boy looked at his uncle in wide-eyed surprise. "Uncle Jesse! I'm twenty-……"

"Don't care how old ya are!" He interrupted. "If ya ain't old enough ta know better than ta lie to me and sneak off like ya did, then ya ain't too old fer this. Now do you want it in here in front of ya friends or do we take it outside?"

Jesse asked that question in both seriousness and anger. The Duke boy couldn't remember ever seeing his uncle this upset. But then again, the event of the last week left all the Dukes lacking in the areas of reasonable thinking and emotional control.

It was humiliating to say the least to think of his uncle taking a strap to him at his age, but all things considered, he quickly realized that he had indeed wronged Jesse and there would be no hope of reasoning with him until his uncle did what he felt he needed to, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.

Glancing toward Cooter and Brownie's uncomfortable frowns, the boy heaved a sigh and walked toward the door, his angry uncle following him outside.

They returned inside a few minutes later, the Duke boy hunched over like he hadn't a soul to love him in the world. Jesse walked over to Brownie and laid the folded belt into his outstretched hand. Brownie could feel the warmth of the strap from the recent blows it had dealt.

He then kept a straight, stern face as he walked over to his nephew. "Boy." He said in a way that told his nephew he was to look at him.

With dread, the boy turned and faced his uncle. When he did, Jesse did a complete one-eighty. As the old man broke down, his nephew suddenly found himself being enveloped in his arms, felt himself being squeezed as if Jesse were afraid to let go.

"I'm just so relieved you're safe." Uncle Jesse said against tears and with a trembling voice. "I love ya. I know you don't think that sometimes, but I do. Watchin' your cousin goin' down like he did, then havin' to bury him was too much………too much…………."

The Duke boy became too choked up to respond. He simply wrapped his arms around his uncle and burst into tears right along with him. 'Dang it, why'd you have to come Uncle Jesse?' He thought as his emotions ran wild. The events of the past couple of days had been like a blessing, giving him something to keep his mind off of the fact that his cousin was gone. There were even a few precious moments in those days when he hadn't even been thinking about the fact, but Jesse's coming had changed that.

Brownie stood off to the side, tears welling up in his own eyes at the sight before him. He reached over to the side table and grabbed a couple of tissues, handing one nonchalantly to a shocked Cooter. Cooter looked at the thing as if it were his cue to cry and had no trouble joining the others. It would have done many a female heart good to witness a room full of tough, blubbering men no matter the circumstance.

In time, Jesse finally pulled away and sat on the couch, taking the tissues that Brownie offered to him. His nephew took his own and they began to clean themselves up.

"How'd you even get over here, Jesse?" His nephew began.

"Well, when Brownie here called me to ask about you and explained you'd been in Chickasaw, I figured Sammy would be the one to know somethin' seein' how you's with Cooter. So I drove over to his place and when ya weren't around I gave him the directions Brownie had given me and he brought me out here."

"Ahm sorry, boys. Ah didn't mean ta git ya'll in no trouble. But ta be honest with ya, if it was me 'n Chris in this situation, Ah can't say I wouldn't of responded tha same way."

"Somehow, Brownie, that doesn't surprise me." Cooter replied, getting a bit of laughter from his audience.

"Uncle Jesse." The Duke boy said, looking at his Uncle. "I know you're scared about this. I'm scared too. But can't ya see how this whole things tearin' us all up?" He put his hand on top of his uncle's. "There just ain't nothin' else we can do for him, nothin' at all 'cept get the guys that did this behind bars."

"We need to let the police handle that."

"Uncle Jesse. I don't mean you no disrespect but you've never been one to wait around for the police to handle things up until now."

"Well I ain't never lost one of my nephews up until now." Jesse said, tearing slightly once again. "Us Dukes have all been through so much I guess I sorta thought we's all invincible, bulletproof, if you can imagine that."

The Duke boy smiled slightly. "I guess we were proven wrong there. Guess we'll have to leave all that to the next generation, huh?"

Jesse managed a small smile. "You're makin' me feel a little better but I still can't in good conscious let you go out there."

The Duke boy sighed. "Uncle Jesse, I ain't gonna lie to you no more and I hate to make you feel bad, but those murderers will be found. And unless the police beat me to it, I'm afraid I'm going to be the one to accomplish that. I won't be able to come to any sort of peace until it happens. I hope you can respect that."

"Why? You can't respect my feelings!"

"Uncle Jesse….."

"I won't stand fer it!" He replied, getting angry again.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse." The Duke boy replied with firmness this time. "But my mind's made up. You can get mad, and you can make me feel guilty, but you can't stop me."

Jesse's was a bit taken back by his nephew's response. As the anger welled inside of him, the front door flew open and Sheriff Little barreled inside!

"Good job Billy." Little said, looking at the Duke boy in particular.

"Just saw the car in passing, sir." Billy modestly replied, causing the friends to mentally kick themselves for not taking the time to hide it.

As Billy drew his gun, Sheriff Little wound the Duke boy around and began to handcuff him. As he did so, he looked toward Jesse. "I know you think I'm a mean man, Mr. Duke, and I have some things I could charge him on, but the truth is I just wanna get him outta harm's way. He'll be back on your farm before nightfall, I can assure you of that."

"I have a better idea." Jesse replied, eyeing his nephew to let him know who was still in charge.

"What's that, Mr. Duke?"

I say you oughta put them charges of yours in effect and arrest him!"

_**Ya'll think that's bad, imagine the fate that'd lay with the person who dared to come up with tha bail money.**_


	13. Chapter 13

"Uncle Jesse, you can't possibly be serious!" The Duke boy exclaimed in disbelief.

"And I want him kept in jail 'till those murderers are found!" Jesse emphasized, directing the statement toward Sheriff Little.

"But Uncle Jesse, we can't do this, not now. We gotta lead on them!"

"You do?" Uncle Jesse asked, a small glimmer of hope appearing in his eye before it disappeared from him. "Well if you've gotta lead, there stands the sheriff!" Jesse exclaimed.

"It ain't his fight." The Duke boy muttered, matching Duke stubbornness head to head.

"Now just hang on son." Sheriff Little began. "If you know something about this case that we don't, I need to hear about it."

"Why should I?" The Duke boy asked bitterly. "You're gonna throw me in jail one way or the other!"

"Yeah, but if it turns out to be a valid lead, it could greatly affect the amount of time you'll be spendin' there!"

Seeing each side being as bull-headed as the other, Cooter finally decided it was time for him to speak up. "It was a Franklin tree leaf, sheriff."

"A what?" Little asked as the Duke boy shot Cooter a look of hate.

"A Franklin leaf. It was found outside the jewelry store." Cooter replied. "We, uh, was over there pickin' stuff up yesterday too and a friend down at Berry College identified it for us." He continued, stating how he knew what the leaf was while hiding the fact that it came from a bag stolen from the evidence room.

Little shrugged his shoulders. "I ain't never heard of a Franklin tree, but I don't see how a leaf could mean anything one way or the other."

"I know how it could." Brownie spoke up.

As everyone turned to the mountain man, Cooter's face lit in realization. Of course! Who would know more about trees and plants and leaves than a man who lived right in the midst of them?

"The Franklin tree is one of tha rarest trees thar are. Theys first discovered centuries ago growin' wild here in Georgia. Now if ya go and ask any of them fancy university professors, they'd most likely tell ya that they don't exist in tha wild anymore, but that's 'cause them guys don't know where ta look."

Little smiled. "Well we appreciate the history lesson, Maples, but just cause a leaf from some rare tree was found in front of the jewelry store, it don't mean it had anything to do with the robbery. Besides, I don't have the manpower or the resources to scout these hills lookin' for some tree that I can't even describe on just a chance that it's leaf could've come from the robber's boot.

"Don't need ta scout tha hills." Brownie replied. "Ya jist need ta know where ta look."

The group looked at Brownie in amazement. "And where would that be, Mr. Maples?" Little asked.

Brownie suddenly fell silent as he looked at Jesse. This was all about Jesse's family and he wasn't sure if the Duke patriarch wanted that information revealed.

And up until a week ago, Jesse would have been just as anxious as anyone to seek justicehimself. But circumstances had changed that. "Go ahead Brownie. Tell him."

"Whal I've been over ever square foot of these mountains in mah day, and they's only one of them trees ta be found. And that tree grows right next ta Benson Jones Falls."

Little shook his head. "I ain't never heard of no Benson Jones Falls around here."

"Most people from town ain't." Brownie nodded, taking small delight that his mountain navigations and smarts befuddled the townsfolk.

Little felt himself becoming even more annoyed. "Well are ya gonna tell us where it is or are ya gonna stand there lookin' all smug?"

"Now don't get smart with 'im Little! He may be the one who can break this case wide open!" Cooter announced in an angry tone.

"It's no wonder them killers ain't been found if he treats everyone who might have information this way, Jesse!" The Duke boy exclaimed as he struggled in frustration against his restraints.

"Now everybody just hang on!" Jesse said, sweeping the air with his hands. "Brownie, can you think of any reason why anybody who'd rob the jewelry store would have a reason to be near this waterfall you're talkin' about?"

"Ah don't know of no reason 'less they found out about that cave in 'n behind tha falls."

"A cave?" Little asked, showing genuine interest for the first time since the conversation began. "Just where is this waterfall Mr. Maples?"

"Why it's back in Benson Jones Valley, where else?"

Little shook his head in frustration. Many of the mountain folks had different names for areas in the hill country that the more modern citizens did. They even had names for areas that didn't have an official name. All this Benson Jones stuff apparently fit into the latter category.

Little sought out a piece of paper and put it in front of Brownie, instructing him to draw a map. He then informed Billy, his deputy who had stood aside silently for the majority of the time, that he would be sending Chris his way and that they were to go together and check out the cave. Turning to the Duke boy, he laid a hand on his shoulder and led him outside to the patrol car.

"Uncle Jesse, you can't let them put me in jail! Those robbers could be in that cave!"

"Don't worry. Me, Cooter, and even Brownie here will tag along with Billy and Chris and report back to you."

"Tag along? You're havin' me sent to jail and you're gonna tag along?" He asked in disbelief.

"That's right. Tag along. There's a difference in that and jumpin' out in front of them guys like you's beggin' for a bullet, which is what you'd do. We're gonna let the police do the work and we're just gonna be there for observation. Ain't that right, Cooter?" Jesse finished, shooting Cooter a threatening stare.

"Whatever you say, Uncle Jesse." Cooter reluctantly replied.

After the door was closed, securing the Duke boy in the back of Little's car, Jesse turned to say something to Brownie, leaving Cooter to offer a thumbs up and a knowing nod to his sulking friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I sure hope we don't get stuck in the mud up here. Probably'd take days to get out on foot." Cooter mused as he drove the black Ford where Brownie sat sandwiched between him and Jesse.

"Yah jist lucky this ole' loggin road's cut thru here. Last time ah's up here thay wadn't no roads for miles around. It was ah good couple hours walkin' into tha woods 'fore ya ever saw tha falls."

"I just hope we'll _live_ to see the falls!" Cooter emphasized as the tires slipped haphazardly in the slippery red clay.

"Just keep behind Chris. If it goes smooth fer him, it'll go smooth for you. If not, weave to the left or right." Jesse instructed.

Cooter simply offered Jesse a glance, not one who particularly appreciated driving advice from a side or back seat occupant. As he looked back toward the bare dirt, or in this case clay, road, he asked. "You suppose we'll find anything up there?"

"Well, the leaf was definitely somethin' to go on, ya gotta admit that. I mean, it is kinda a coincidence considerin' where this tree is for it to end up right in front of that store on the same day the robbery took place."

"And Chris did mention that thar was some red clay that come offa them theives' tars." Brownie revealed. "'Course that wadn't nothing they could really go on seein' how that stuffs all over tha county."

Soon they arrived at the dead end to the logging road. Cooter and Jesse joined the others as they all climbed out of their cars. The rush of the falls could be heard around the bend just a few feet away.

As they all gathered together, Billy, who has so far been the quietest of the group, spoke up. "Why don't everybody wait here? I'll go check things out."

"Yes, I think that would be for the best." Chris added as he drew his gun, preparing to forge ahead.

"No, Chris. I want you to wait too. I mean, you're fairly new on the force, and I'd hate to see anything bad happen to you right in front of your grandpa here."

"I won't send you in there alone!" Chris replied. "Those guys are murderers and if it so happens they're hidin' in that cave, you're gonna need the help."

"If the truth were to be told, theirs probably nothing in that cave." Billy pointed out. "Even so, we can't leave these people standing back here by themselves. These mountains are full of moonshiners who don't take kindly to visitors."

"Billy, you're not going in by yourself." Chris replied, jutting out his badge. "I didn't earn this thing to mop floors and shuffle paperwork. Now just lead the way in there because there ain't nothin' that's gonna change my mind!"

"Not even this?"

The group turned in surprise as a new voice emerged on the scene. Jamie, the jewelry store clerk, had emerged from the backseat of the Ford, where he had climbed in during the boys' chase event with Little. Only today, he wasn't peddling jewelry.

He was pointing a gun!

**_Ya know, it's bad enough to think they could get killed in this situation, but knowing they brought the gunman there themselves makes it even worse._**


	14. Chapter 14

"Alright!" Chris yelled out, rushing to the front of the group and pointing his own gun toward Jamie. "You're outnumbered here. Now drop your weapon nice and easy and move away from it!"

Jamie looked at the officer and smiled, offering a sinister laugh under his breath as he kept his gun trained on the group.

"Sir, I'm telling you again. Drop…your….weapon, or we'll have no choice but to fire."

"Chris?"

"Not now, Pop. Billy! Get up here and help me!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Chris. My hands seem to be tied up at the moment."

Chris risked a brief glance behind him and was shocked to see Billy's arm wrapped around his grandfather's neck and his gun pointed at his head!"

"Billy! What……"

"Shut up!" Billy snarled. "And you drop that gun right now, 'fore any of these weapons accidentally go off. We wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?" He asked as he cocked the hammer of his gun.

"Just take it easy, Billy." Chris replied as he threw his weapon on the ground toward Jamie.

"And let's get somethin' straight. My name ain't Billy. It's Shawn. Just cause that dumb sheriff dubbed me Billy 'cause there was another Shawn already on the force don't make it my name!"

"Okay B….uh, Shawn. We don't want nobody to get hurt. Just tell us what you want us to do." Chris coaxed him.

"I want ya to get on the C.B. and tell Sheriff Little ya need him up here. But make sure he comes alone."

"How do I do that?" Chris had to ask.

"Now Chris, I can't think of everything. You just look deep into ole' Pop's eyes here and I'm sure it'll help you come up with somethin'."

As Chris looked at his grandpa he saw something he had never witnessed from the old man before: genuine fear. Working on that, he walked to the C.B. on his patrol car and picked it up. "This is deputy Chris Maples calling Sheriff Little." He said, the crack in his voice far more apparent to him than the other listeners.

"What is it, Maples, I'm tryin' to get the Duke boy fingerprinted here." Sheriff Little responded from inside the Chickasaw County jail where the Duke boy had finally acquired an orange jail issued shirt."

"Sheriff, we really need you to come up here to Benson Jones Falls." Chris replied.

"Why, what's goin' on?"

"Well, we've found somethin' of interest. Thought you might like to see it."

Sheriff Little and the Duke boy both perked up in response. "What is it?"

"Kinda hard to describe. I think it'd be best if you just came out here."

Little grunted. "Well it'll be a few minutes. I gotta find somebody that can ride up with me and somebody else that can take over with Duke here."

"Don't need nobody to ride up with you, sheriff. Billy and I will be here when you arrive."

"Okay Maples, but if this turns out to be some wild goose-chase, your badge is gonna be on the line."

I understand sheriff, over and out."

Little pulled the rough map Brownie had sketched out of his pocket and glanced over it.

"Sheriff Little, if you'll just let me go with you I promise I'll….."

"Keith!" Little exclaimed. Moments later a deputy walked into the room. "Benson, I want you to finish fingerprinting this prisoner. There's something I need to go do."

"What is it, sheriff?"

"Hard to say just yet. Just get him fingerprinted and lock him in cell A. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Yes sir." Keith replied.

"Sheriff Little, please…….." The Duke boy began as Little walked across the room, never turning around to acknowledge him before walking out the door.

Keith smirked as he commenced to fingerprinting. "Don't take it personal just 'cause you've got a number across your chest. Little extends the same common courtesy to everyone."

"Really? And I just thought it was me all this time." The Duke boy replied.

"You're joking, right?" Keith asked as the Duke boy gave a slight laugh and nod. Keith smiled. "He's nasty most of the time, but you seem to be the victim of choice for this week. You're the cousin of the robbery victim, aren't you?" He asked, purposefully substituting 'murder' with 'robbery'.

The Duke boy nodded. "Same last name, Duke."

"Didn't hafta see your name. You're photo's wallpapering every bulletin board throughout the building." The officer replied, nodding toward the door. "Sheriff Little there must have had something pretty important going on to just walk off and leave the person he's had every officer on the beat lookin' out for these past few days."

"There's a possible lead out at some place called Benson Jones falls." The Duke boy replied.

"Did you say Benson Jones falls?" Keith asked, looking at him with interest.

"Yeah. Apparently it's some place way back in the mountains. I just hope that nothin' serious is goin' on. My uncle and my friend are supposed to be up there now."

"Little can't go there alone! Those mountains are full of moonshiners!" Keith exclaimed. "I gotta get somebody to come take over here so I can follow him!"

Keith then ran about, in reality making next to no effort to find a replacement officer. Only seconds later, he returned to the Duke boy. "Look, I heard you tell the Sheriff you wanted to go along. I really don't have time to find someone else to take over here so if you promise to behave, I'll let you ride along."

"I promise, I promise!" The Duke boy repeated.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Quite a while later they had arrived at the dead end to the logging road and found sheriff Little's car along with the other patrol car and the black Ford. However, there wasn't a soul to be found.

Keith opened the back door and allowed a handcuffed Duke boy to emerge. "If I can remember correctly, there's an old cave behind that waterfall. Probably worth checkin' out seein' as how there ain't nobody around up here."

As the pair began walking toward the falls, the Duke boy asked. "Can't you uncuff me?"

"Sorry, but it's bad enough that I brought you along. I'll really end up on Little's bad side if I uncuff you, too."

"But what if them robbers….."

"Relax, I've got ya covered." Keith assured him as they continued their trek through the woods.

The crunching of the leaves mixed with the sound of the falls gave a constant roar. After what seemed like forever, the falls finally came into view.

"We used to pass by here on huntin' trips when I's a kid." Keith yelled above the roar, pointing to some rocks off to the left. "If we git on them rocks there, I bet we can get behind it without getting too wet."

They then trudged forward, the Duke boy deciding not to point out the fact that getting wet was the least of his concerns.

When they were almost behind the falls, Keith paused to pull out his gun. Getting in front of the Duke boy, he inched forward.

When he finally reached the cave, he spied someone inside. Wanting to have the element of surprise, he rushed forward.

"Alright freeze!" He exclaimed, pointing a gun at Cooter. Cooter, who had been busy untying Jesse, looked at the officer in shock.

"Keith, thank goodness you're here!" Sheriff Little exclaimed, from where he sat on the floor, tied up as well.

"Uncle Jesse!" The Duke boy exclaimed, rushing into the cave where he knelt on the floor beside his uncle, handcuffed the whole while. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine. But it's a good thing ya got here when ya did. Them fellers were just about ta start shootin' when Cooter here got tha upper hand on them and knocked 'em out cold." Jesse announced, nodding toward Jamie and Shawn who were just beginning to stir again.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this." Keith replied, going forward to collect the guns that the robbers had dropped. As the pair opened their eyes, Keith yelled out orders. "Alright you two, on your feet!"

As the pair stared at him they slowly rose to a standing position, rubbing at their aching jaws.

Keith then saw some of the rope that had been used to tie up the occupants laying to the side. He bent down and grabbed the coil with one hand while keeping the gun trained.

"You think you fellers are gonna be alright?" He asked his prisoners as they shook their heads to rid themselves of the dizziness brought about by the punches.

"Yeah." Jamie said.

"I think so." Shawn confirmed.

"Good." Keith replied, then doing something that shocked everyone else in the cave.

Taking the coil of rope, he hurled it toward Jamie before he tossed a gun toward Shawn!

"Now." Keith announced, whirling around to join the robbers and motioning toward Jesse and Cooter. "Go ahead and tie them up!"

_**Things was lookin' so good there for a while I nearly got up and went to tha 'fridge. Guess I learned my lesson**_.


	15. Chapter 15

"Now just hang on!" Cooter exclaimed.

"You'll be lucky if I don't HANG you ON a nail!" Shawn exclaimed, going behind Cooter and tying a rope around his wrists. When he had completed the job, he got up and delivered a swift neck popping punch to Cooter's jaw. The momentum caused the officer to fall over on his side, a sight that would have been funny had the situation not been so dire.

"Get up Shawn, you ain't that much of a wimp." Keith ordered him after he lay there withering in pain for a moment from his sore hand and side. He reached down and pulled him to his feet, giving him an annoyed stare.

"Sorry Joe." Shawn mumbled.

"Joe?" The Duke boy found himself saying aloud.

Keith looked at him. "Yeah. Joe. Joe Keith. Why? You writin' a report on this enriching experience?"

"Don't give out no names, man." Jamie replied, standing up from tying Jesse's wrists.

"Why? He ain't gonna be around to tell nobody who I am." Joe Keith laughed. "Ain't none of 'em."

"You're planning to kill us?" Sheriff Little asked, knowing the answer but trying to buy some time for everyone while they brainstormed for a plan.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Joe laughed.

The group sat silently for a few moments before Brownie spoke up. "Whal do we git any last requests?"

"Why? Whaddaya want old man? Need ta hug the ole' shine jug one last time?" Jamie laughed as his cousins joined him.

"No, ah just reckoned that a man who's been on this earth long as ah have has gotta right ta know why he's leavin'."

"I second that." Jesse added. "You guys hafta be completely out of yer minds. You've already took one life. Now you've got six people tied up in this cave and as far as I kin figure, it ain't fer nothin' more than a handful of jewels."

"Well looks can be deceiving, can't they?" Joe grinned. "Yeah, we did rob the jewelry store, but that was just a front. I mean come on…..how hard could it have been with our cousin Jamie working alone behind the counter?"

"I'm afraid I'm not following you, what was it a front for? And why did you pick this cave of all places as your hideout?"

"Well, it never was really our hideout, Mr. Duke." Joe replied. "We just wanted Little there to think it was."

"Why did you want me to think that?" The sheriff had to ask.

"Well to get you out here, of course. And it worked!" Shawn sneered. "I have to admit, when I went on Joe's suggestion and snuck a couple of them Franklin leaves into the evidence bag, I didn't ever think anyone would be smart enough to trace them back to the cave. But then, I figured ole' Chris would get to talking to his grandpa after awhile. Everybody knows ole Pops is just about smart as they come when you're talking about these hills."

"Okay, so you put some evidence in place to get me out here. Now that I am, what do you want?"

"Why your life, of course." Shawn revealed in a tone that sounded as if the sheriff should have understood that right from the beginning. "Now it never was our intention for all these other people to become a victim to the plan." He added nodding toward Cooter and the Duke boy. "But you two were getting a little too nosy for your own good. And you two." He added, nodding toward Jesse and Brownie. "Well, you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Victims of unfortunate circumstance."

"Look, if you want me, you got me but you ain't got no reason to drag these other people in on it. Let 'em go!" Sheriff Little ordered.

"So we can have witnesses?" Jamie asked. "Now it wouldn't do too good for these folks to go back in town town and tell the other officers thatComissioner Jenkins's nephews were responsible for your untimely demise."

Little's trademark frown went even deeper as he looked at the trio. "So this is all Thomas Jenkins's doing…..because I wouldn't go along with his absurd plans!"

"Well you're a mean ornery old sheriff, Little. But there's one thing ya ain't….and that's dishonest. You're also too bull headed to leave the force. Now any commissioner knows around these parts that if he's really gonna make something of himself, it does good to have the cooperation of the local sheriff's department. He ain't got none of the wealth or resources other commissioners like Hogg over in Hazzard County does...and he won't as long as you're around."

"So all this happened because you've got somethin' against the sheriff there?" The Duke boy asked in barely controlled anger. "If you's just tryin' to get Little on the trail of a robbery and you wasn't even interested in the jewels, why did you kill my cousin?"

Shawn shook his head. "It was too early in the game. We couldn't have a witness I.D. us, not at that point."

"No witnesses, you understand." Joe added. "Just like there ain't gonna be no witnesses today."

"Do you honestly think that the disappearance of Sheriff Little, especially, is going to escape the attention of the town?" Chris asked.

"Well you of all people, Chris, knows how this town is. Soon as they hear where the bodies were found they're gonna assume it was moonshiners. But don't worry….we'll be there to assure them of their safety!" Joe laughed.

"There's nobody that could be more trustworth than Commissioner Jenkins's nephews!" Shawn added with twisted glee.

"Now that the trivia session is over, what do you say we get on with it?" Jamie asked, extracting Little's helmet from his head. He then went around the cave, pointing his gun to each victim in turn. "What do you think would be more fun? Shoot Little first and let 'em all ponder their fate? Or shoot the youngin's first and let the old ones witness it?"

"Or maybe vice-versa." Shawn added.

Jamie turned and smiled at him. "I like your way of thinking. Must be in the genes."

"How 'bout over here?" Cooter asked.

Joe turned and smiled at him. "Ahhhh. We have a brave volunteer."

"Just tired of seein' in all drag out." Cooter replied, swallowing hard as the Duke boy looked at him. "I just have one last request."

"Yeah, what's that?"

Cooter nodded toward Uncle Jesse who sat opposite him. "That man over there's just like family to me, and I think it only right that you give me and his nephew here a proper goodbye."

"Nice try mechanic. I ain't gonna untie you!"

"Not askin' ya too, just askin' that we be close to him one more time."

Joe turned to his cousins who shrugged their shoulders. "Fine. Have your sentimental moment."

"Well I'll need a little help getting up." Cooter admitted.

"Me too." The Duke boy added.

Joe and Jamie went over and took each friend by the arm. Once they were in a standing position, they quickly went into action, swinging their arms around and knocking the guns out of their hands!

As the friends wrestled the cousins, Shawn decided very quickly how he would get their attention.

Pointing his gun at Uncle Jesse, he pulled the trigger!

_**Ya know, I can handle a lot of things, but I can't hardly stand it when somethin' happens to good ole' Jesse.**_


	16. Chapter 16

Seeing the action, Jesse Duke jumped a bit, but there was never an ear shattering sound to go along with his reflex.

No sooner had Shawn applied pressure to the trigger than Cooter rolled Jamie toward him, tripping him up. As Cooter and Jamie struggled, Shawn found himself helpless to get up or to use the faulty gun.

In the meantime, Jesse had managed to free himself and immediately set to work loosening Chris's restraints. Chris jumped up and ran over to Shawn, knocking the gun out of his hand before taking hold of it and barking out his orders.

"Games up, everyone!" He shouted. "Everybody cool it now!" He exclaimed as Sheriff Little was freed and stood beside him.

"I'll take over here, you collect the guns." Little ordered him, taking the gunbefore Chris set about picking up the other discarded weapons.

Although Shawn stood, the other two were unable to as the friends ignored Little and commenced to wrestling them. For once in his life, Little didn't take the immediate action he normally would to stop such a fight. Instead, he let it continue as Chris checked on the well being of Jesse and Brownie.

There was no mistaking that the friends were definitely on the winning end of this fight. But after a couple minutes of rolling and punching, it became clear to Little that it was time to put an end to it. Commanding them once again to stop, he went over and physically picked up the Duke boy with one hand while Chris was left to deal with Cooter.

As bloody and bruised as the friends appeared, it was nothing compared to the two that didn't even have the energy to rise from the ground. Despite the fact, the Duke boy struggled against Little in an effort to continue what he had started.

"I said to calm down, son!" Little exclaimed.

"I ain't gonna calm down!" The Duke boy replied. "I got a cousin that's dead in the ground and I ain't gonna be done 'till I'm good and satisfied that the one who pulled the trigger got the whoopin' he deserved!"

"Well then you've wasted your efforts, both of you." Shawn replied, eyeing first Cooter then the Duke boy. "'Cause ya see, it wasn't either of the two boys you laid on the ground there. It was me!"

After the announcement, Shawn reached down with lightning fast reflexes and pulled Brownie to his feet, snaking an arm around his neck. Chris abruptly halted as quick as he had dashed forward when Shawn put his other hand to the side of Brownie's neck.

"Just one little snap, Chris." Shawn sneered. "That's what's gonna happen if you step one foot closer. Quick as that, I can send ole' Pop here to his glory."

With Shawn's beefy stature and after the events of the day, neither Chris nor Little had any doubt that he was both willing and able to carry out his threat. Although they both had their guns trained on Shawn, there wasn't anything they could do with Brownie right in front of him. Running his hands through his hair, Chris bit at his lower lip as he let out a strong, frustrated groan.

"It's alright, Chris. Copperhead 76!"

Shawn looked at Brownie. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jist ole' mountain talk lettin' him know ahm gonna be alright."

"Yer as crazy as they come, old man." Shawn commented, demanding the keys to Little's patrol car.

"Now everybody listen real close." Shawn ordered after he had received the keys. "You wanna see ole Pop alive again, you'll be real nice and not give me any trouble when we drive outta here. And I'd strongly advise you do your best to keep him alive, as he's the only person this incompetent sheriff's department 'ill be able to count on to tell 'em anything if somethin' happens in these mountains!"

With that, Shawn pulled Brownie backwards, away from the waterfall and through the forest. Although Little and Chris led the other felons out with the rest of the crew close behind, they wisely made no effort to upset Shawn.

"Kin a feller in my situation make ah request?' Brownie asked.

"Not sure if that's such a good idea, old timer." Shawn replied. "Last time we tried to fill a request my two cousins back there ended up in matching pairs of handcuffs."

"Well ah's just wonderin' if ya cared if I sang."

"Sing?" Shawn asked.

"Whal yeah. Sangin's always done good tah calm me in stressful times, and if this don't count as ah stressful time, ah don't know what could."

Shawn thought for a few moments but couldn't figure for the life of him how singing could possibly upset his plan. "Okay, old man. If ya wanna sing, sing. It might just be your last chance anyway."

Without offeringfurther comment, Brownie cleared his normally hoarse throat and began.

"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes.." He began, clearing his voice again as Shawn continued to walk him backward toward the car, eyeing those who followed from a respectable distance. "She'll be comin' round the mountain when she cooooomes. She'll be comin' round the mountain, she'll be comin' round the mountain, she'll be comin' round the mountain when she cooooooooooooomes." He continued, his voice getting louder with each stanza.

"She'll be drivin' six white horses when she comes." Chris began, joining his grandfather with a hint of knowing in each of their eyes as their voices rose high as the treetops. "She'll be drivin' six white horses when she coooooomes." Their voices blended harmoniously. "She'll be drivin' six white horses, she'll be drivin' six white horses, she'll be drivin' six white horses when she cooooooooooomes!"

"Alright!" Shawn exclaimed, frustration apparent in his voice. "This is supposed to be a kidnapping not an audition for a hillbilly quartet."

"Whal you said I kin sang." Brownie argued.

"I said you can, not your grandson over there." Shawn replied. "Besides, you're concentrating a little too much on the singing and a little less on the walking. Now you speed it up."

Brownie simply began walking a little faster when he suddenly let out a small grunt and tripped up a bit.

"Pop!" Chris exclaimed.

"Whatsa matter, old timer?" Shawn asked, practically dragging Brownie along.

"Ah think ah mighta twisted mah ankle."

"Well ya better learn to hop like a jackrabbit if you hope to live."

"Ah ain't exactly experienced in hoppin backwards on one foot." Brownie pointed out.

"Then just shut up!" Shawn commanded. Although Brownie appeared to offer his best effort, Shawn found himself more or less being forced to drag the old man.

"Just let him go, you can take me instead!" Chris yelled out.

"Ya ain't got no right to keep an old man hostage!" Cooter added.

"Ya know, I think I liked it better when the singin' was goin' on!" Shawn yelled back.

"Is that mah cue to keep on?" Brownie asked.

"Whatever old timer."

Brownie cleared his throat again as the cars came into sight up ahead. "And we'll all go down to meet her when she-"

His singing was suddenly interrupted when they heard a growl. Turning his head, Shawn was shocked to see that they had come face to face with a huge black bear!"

_**Friends, it looks to me like this day can take an official move from the catagroy of bad day to worse.**_


	17. Chapter 17

The bear overshadowed Shawn and Brownie as it stood up on its hind legs. Shawn was so frightened he forgot all about Brownie and took off running.

Without regard to anything else that was going on, the Duke boy took off in pursuit of the assailant at the top of his personal most wanted list. Catching up to him quickly, he tackled him to the ground.

The rest of the group was left to decide if the fight or the bear were more worthy of their attention. Rubbing at his sore neck, Brownie ran over to rejoin the group as Sheriff Little raised his gun to the bear.

"Easy now there, Ben." An unfamiliar voice spoke loudly as the bear walked toward the group.

At the sound of the voice, the bear lowered himself back down to all fours and turned to walk away. As Sheriff Little lowered his gun and the group gazed curiously, the bear walked up to a wild looking mountain man with a rifle who appeared from behind a tree. As the bear nuzzled his arm, he stroked its head.

"Pop!" Chris grinned in excitement. "It's Mad Jack!"

Brownie gave Chris and impromptu hug. "Ah knew if we was ta sang that song good 'nd loud he'd show up!"

As a grunt sounded off to their right, the group refocused on the fight. Jesse didn't know who this Mad Jack was but he was glad he and the bear had shown up when they did. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cooter gearing up to join his friend on the fight. Reaching out to stop him, he looked at the mechanic.

"Not this time, Cooter." Jesse announced with a serious expression. "This time, it's my turn."

Cooter nodded and patted Jesse's back, using all that was in him to will himself to stand still as the elderly man ran forward.

When Jesse arrived on the scene, Shawn had the Duke boy down on the ground punching his face. Jesse allowed himself a quick glance at his nephew who looked as if he were close to losing consciousness. Picking up a large branch off the ground, Jesse brought it down on Shawn's back with everything that was in him.

With a cry, Shawn collapsed against the Duke boy. The act allowed the younger Duke the moment he needed to catch his breath, and he pushed Shawn off of him with more strength than he thought he had left. Landing on the ground with a thud, Shawn moaned as he dealt with the second blow to his back.

Giving him as much a break as he had been allowed, the Duke boy was on top of him instantly. Curling his hand into a fist, he dealt blows to Shawn's face before sinking them into his abdomen. The Duke boy was completely numb to what he was doing, only subconsciously realizing the seriousness of the injuries he was delivering. After only a little while, Shawn begged him to stop, but it was like the Duke boy wasn't processing the information. Spying something on the ground, he reached over and picked up a large white quartz rock which he held menacingly over Shawn's head. How easy, he thought, it would be to bring that rock down on Shawn's head and put him right where his cousin was.

"That's enough, boy!" Uncle Jesse exclaimed, panic evident in his voice.

"Just hold it son. No need to do that, he's on his way to prison." Sheriff Little added.

"That's right, there's no way out of it for him. We all hear his confession." Chris added.

"Whaddaya think it's gonna do to Jesse and Daisy to know you're gone too 'cause you're in jail?" Cooter asked, trying to make him think.

"He killed him." The Duke boy replied in an eerily neutral tone as the rock remained poised above Shawn's hand.

"Prison don't have no place in the life of a young man like you." Mad Jack added as he bent down beside the Duke boy. "And runnin' from the law the rest of yer life to stay outta there wouldn't suit you either. I know what I'm talkin' about there. Me 'nd Ben here's gotta friend who's been doin' that for years."

"Please put the rock down." Jesse begged. "Yer cousin would want justice, but he wouldn't want to see it at the expense of yer whole life."

The Duke boy continued to straddle Shawn's legs, the rock shaking in his hand. Finally, as tears formed in his eyes, he threw the rock as far as he could, moving off of Shawn and sitting to the side.

As Jesse knelt beside him and caught him into a hug, he broke down with long overdue grief stricken tears. As uncle comforted nephew, Little pulled Shawn to his feet before handcuffing him and putting him in the back of his patrol car along with his cousins.

Leaving Chris in charge, Little drove the prisonersto the Tri-County hospital, where they would be checked over before their trip to the Chicasaw County jail. As the Duke boy cleaned his swollen face, he and Jesse joined the others.

"Now that you two are back together, there's jist somethin' ah gotta know." Brownie began, looking at the Duke boy and Cooter.

"What's that, Brownie?" Cooter asked.

"Whal you's tied up." Brownie began, pointing at Cooter. "And you's handcuffed." He added, pointing at the Duke boy. "Now ahm purty good at figurin' these thangs out, but ah kint for tha life of me figure how you two come ta git loose back thar."

"Well we wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Shawn's carelessness." Cooter replied. If you'll remember, he fell down after he hit me. Well what he didn't realize is that the keys fell out of his pocket when he fell, and he didn't notice them when he got back up."

"So ya'll got ahold of the keys and Duke there used them on his own handcuffs then used his pocketknife to cut Cooter loose." Chris guessed.

As the friends nodded, Jesse remembered another incident. "That's just one way tha Lord was looking' out fer us. He had to have give a helping' hand in keeping' that gun from going' off when that feller pointed it at me."

"You could say that, Mr. Duke." Chris replied. "It so happened that the gun he used to try to shoot you was the gun he got from me, and I always keep my safety locks on. I always have this fear that it's gonna go off by accident one day."

"Score two for the good guys." Cooter said.

"Score three." Jesse replied. "If Mad Jack and his bear hear hadn't shown up when they did, things might not have turned out as well as they did."

"Well that wasn't exactly a coincidence either, Mr. Duke." Chris piped up. "I knew just as soon as Pop said copperhead '76, that Mad Jack and Ben would be along to help us."

"That's another thing, what's copperhead '76 really supposed to mean?" Cooter asked.

"Whal I'll try ta keep it short." Brownie began. "Four years ago, back in '76, me 'n Chris was out hear fishing' at tha falls and ah got bit by a copperhead. Whal I started getting' sick real fast and I started ta panic, so Chris told me ta sang to try to keep my mind off it. Well we's sangin' 'Coming' round tha mountain' and Mad Jack here heard us as we's walking' out. Whal I knew what ta do far snakebite, but concentraitin' on tha fact that I's on tha receivin' end, I couldn't far tha life of me explain it ta Chris here. If ole' Jack hadn't heard that sangin' and knew what ta do, I'd been dead. After I's better we got ta be good friends and he told me ifin ah's It's ever in tha area in trouble like that aging' jist ta sang and he'd be along."

"Well I fer one am glad ta meet you at last, Mr. Duke." Mad Jack announced, shaking Jesse's hand. "Yer well known even back in tha mountains. Folks always tell me they think we favor."

Jesse peered at him for a moment. "Well, I guess we kind of wear our hair and beard the same, but I think it ends there."

"Yeah. I don't really see it myself." Jack confirmed.

After a couple more minutes of chatting, Mad Jack bid the group goodbye, even talking Ben to waving a paw in the air. As the rest of the party turned to the cars, Jesse laid a hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Whaddaya say we go home and relax for awhile."

"Sounds fine, Uncle Jesse." The Duke boy replied.

_**Now I reckon that boy'll go home, but as long as that empty bed's there, I don't see him ever relaxin' again.

* * *

**_

_(A/N: Yeah, I know Ben's really a grizzly bear, just work with me people!)_


	18. Chapter 18

A few days later Daisy was doing the morning dishes, washing and rinsing with both hands as she cradled the telephone receiver in the crook of her neck. "Okay sugar, I just wanted to make sure. Oh, me too. I'll see you in a little while, okay bye."

With that, Daisy laid the receiver back down on the phone, leaving some foamy bubbles behind. Looking out the kitchen window, a smile appeared on her face that could in a certain way be considered both forlorn and happy.

"Hey Daisy……you seen my denim jacket?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Daisy turned to her cousin who was pawing through the coats that hung near the door.

"I think it's in the back, under my red one." Daisy replied, toweling off her hands before going over and pulling the sleeve out for him to see.

"Thanks." He replied, taking off all the coats that had been hung on top of it and plucking it out before he replaced them. He then walked over and put the jacket in a suitcase that was on the table and closed it, snapping the buckles.

"Well, I guess that's everything." He said, offering her a smile.

Daisy shook her head. "Didn't take you long to pack."

"Well, I guess when it comes down to it, ain't much here that's mine personally." He replied in a matter of fact way. "Good thing about lacking in the cash department is it keeps you from aquiring a bunch of stuff you don't need anyway."

"I wish you'd stay."

He turned to her and offered a hug. "I know." He replied, rocking her slightly from side to side. "But if I don't leave like this, the memories will eat me alive and I'll wind up leaving in a straight jacket."

"I know, but….." Daisy began. "………I'll miss you. Uncle Jesse's gonna miss you too, and Cooter, and Rosco and everybody."

"Rosco?" The Duke boy asked in disbelief.

"You know he will." Daisy smiled. "I just wish you'd at least told Jesse this morning. He's gonna be so upset to hear the news."

"Jesse's gonna be just fine. And so are you and so is this farm." The Duke boy announced, letting her go and giving her a smile. "I wouldn't leave if I hadn't arranged forthe finest farm hands you could ever hope for to come take over for me."

"I know." Daisy nodded with a teary smile. "Still, promise me you won't leave without speaking to Jesse. I know it'll be hard for you to visit the cemetary, but still……….."

"I don't want you to worry about that." Her cousin interrupted her. "I wish I could offer my goodbyes somewhere else, but I wouldn't dream of leaving without saying something to him. He'd be liable to chase me down with a stick no matter how far I went!"

That brought a small chuckle from Daisy. "Do you……do you think you'll ever come back to stay?"

**_Miss Daisy always did have a knack for askin' the tough questions._**

"I dunno…….maybe with some time…." He trailed off, looking at her sad eyes. "Just don't go setting an extra plate at the dinner table anytime soon."

As Daisy nodded, he pulled her into another hug. Kissing her forehead, he turned to pick up the suitcase. When it was in hand, he walked out the kitchen door to the General Lee, where he slid it in the backseat.

As he climbed inside, Daisy chuckled. "Men are remarkable. They can move away with one suitcase. That thing wouldn't even hold my makeup!"

As the laugh her cousin shared died down, she looked at him again. "Don't forget Uncle Jesse."

"I won't. I'm gonna go into town to say goodbye to Enos and Cooter first, then I'll go on out there."

Daisy nodded as the General roared to life. The cousins gave each other one more smile before the Duke boy switched to drive and roared away, waving out his window as Daisy returned the gesture.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you're leavin' Hazzard County?"

"'Fraid so. I just got finished telling Miz Tizdale and Mr. Rheubottom and Rosco 'n them goodbye. Made the last stop in town the most important one."

Cooter smiled as he gave the Duke boy a couple of slaps on the back. "I'm sure gonna miss ya buddy. But if a little change of scenery's all ya need, I got a guest room under a ten inch layer of dust over at my place."

The Duke boy laughed before he cleared his throat and creased his brows. "Well, as tempting as that sound, I'm afraid I have to pass." He replied in a mock tone before returning to normal. He then sighed. "Really Cooter, it does sound good, but I think it'd tear Jesse up more to know I's in town and not at the farm that it would to know I's off somewhere else.

Cooter offered him a slight nod. "I guess I can understand that. So how'd he take it when you told him you's leaving?"

"Well he hasn't took it any way yet. I haven't told him."

"Haven't told him?" Cooter asked. "Didn't the open suitcase tip him off?"

"He left for the cemetary early this mornin'. I thought it would be best for all concerned to keep the goodbyes as short as possible." The Duke boy revealed. "So I packed after he left and decided to visit him right before I went out of town. I'm sure not excited about the fact that the visit will be at the cemetery, though."

"You'll be fine out there." Cooter assured him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I know you want the goodbyes to be short and sweet, but I prefer the long variety. If you'd like, I'd be glad to ride out there with you when you break the news to him."

"Would you?" The Duke boy asked hopefully. "Buddy, that would be great!"

"Well what are we waitin' for then? Let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well youngin', it's over." Uncle Jesse smiled as he adjusted the fresh flowers in front of the tombstone a bit later at Hazzard Memorial Gardens. "Them crooks is caught and all three of 'em got a good beatin' they won't soon forgit. They're gonna have a long time to think about what they done down at the state pokey."

He gave the grave a forlorn smile. "I wish ya cousin could come out and tell ya all that fer himself, but he's still can't bring himself to do it. I think it'd go a long way toward him healin', though."

As tears threated Jesse's eyes once more, he heard a car pull up behind him and stop. He clearly heard two people get out and walk toward him and the gravesite. When they stopped, Jesse sensed them standing just behind him.

Jesse wanted to compose himself before he turned around and faced whoever was there. He stood and dabbed at his eyes a bit when the young man spoke up.

"Uncle Jesse?"

Jesse blinked upon hearing the voice. Turning around, he gazed at a pair of familiar blue eyes.

"Bo!" Jesse exclaimed in suprise, embracing his nephew. "I'm so glad you're here."

_**Well folks, I gotta admit. I just don't know what to say, or how to feel, about that.**_

(A/N Well my dears, this you must ponder until I return from Dukefest. YeeHaw!)


	19. Chapter 19

"I'm glad I'm here too, and it's about time I was, Uncle Jesse." Bo replied, returning his Uncle's hug as he noted his red eyes. "I didn't mean to interrupt……Jesse, are you gonna be alright?"

"I think things are lookin' a whole lot better." Jesse replied, gazing at his nephew's face. With a smile, he hugged him even tighter.

"Hey what about me?" Another voice asked.

Jesse turned to the voice, his smile getting a bit wider. "Well what about ya?" He asked, giving out another tight hug.

"Jesse, I think yer about ta bust my ribs." Luke Duke groaned, not being able to control the chuckled that escaped his lips.

**_Did he say Luke? Either I'm hearin' things or I've had one too many of Boss's watered down beers._**

Jesse let his nephew go as Luke nodded toward the grave. "You've always been a man full of love, Jesse. I think Vance there would've been amazed to know just how much he grew on ya in the time he's here."

Jesse nodded his head as he gazed at his nephews. "He probably would, but….I still can't believe you're here. I didn't even know you's comin' home!"

"Daisy thought you could use a nice surprise for a change." Luke replied, patting his uncle's shoulder.

"I think Billy Kay was gettin' tired of us anyway. He complained we burnt up his tires way too fast." Bo joked.

"Well how'd ya'll know I's out here anyway?" Jesse asked.

"We called Daisy from a payphone to let her know we'd made it to town and she told us where to find you."

"Yeah. Coy called up to Nashville yesterday and finally told us about the robbery, what all went on in Chickasaw after that involving the capture of those crooks. Everything." Bo confirmed.

"He did?" Jesse asked sheepishly.

"Yes he did Jesse." Luke looked at his Uncle in the eyes. "Why didn't you call us when all this first happened?"

"Well, 'cause ya'll was fufillin' your Nascar dreams. You've gave so many years to tha farm that I could at least let ya be without callin' ya back home after only 9 months away. Who would I be to put a stop ta all that?"

"Our uncle, that's who." Luke replied. "I know you's tryin' to spare us, Jesse, but we're all family here and when the family's in trouble the dreams just have to wait."

"That's right Uncle Jesse." Bo piped up. "I know we wasn't real close to Vance or nothin', but he was still our cousin. We shoulda been here to pay our respects."

"And we shoulda at least been here runnin' the farm for ya when things was bad and Coy was out huntin' them guys with Cooter."

"Or maybe even helpin' Coy hunt 'em." Bo added.

"Oh I don't think I'd stood for that." Jesse admitted, looking at Bo. "I just didn't want ya ta have to worry about it. Everybody else is doin' plenty of that. They got themselves in such a tizzy over me spendin' so much time at this grave………but what they don't understand is that the boy died in my very arms. I mean I do love him, don't get me wrong, but seein' him go like that right before my eyes, well, it got me way down deep, deeper 'n anything I ever felt before."

He smiled at Bo and Luke, still not believing they were home. "I know it don't make sense, but I guess I felt like they's somethin' I shoulda been able to do fer him, I mean, with me bein' right there and all."

"Jesse, it just happened too fast. All you could do was hold him in yer arms. And ya did that." Luke assured him.

They were interupped when another car pulled up to the cemetary. They looked up and watched as Coy and Cooter hoisted themselves out of the General Lee.

"Hey hey! Look who it is!" Cooter exclaimed, spying his very best friends in the world. He ran forward for a joyful reunion while Coy propped himself up against the General, not willing to get any closer to the grave.

After the group had hugged and exchanged some quick conversation, they turned and walked up to the General Lee where Coy stood waiting.

Coy offered his cousins a slight smile. "You fellas made good timing. I was just on my way outta town."

"Outta town?" Jesse asked

"I didn't want it to be a long goodbye, Uncle Jesse, but I'm leaving Hazzard County." Coy announced. "With Vance gone and them crooks behind bars, there's nothing else to do and just too many memories to keep me here. There's also too many memories for me ta go back home. I think the best thing I can do right now is git a fresh start somewhere new." He turned to Bo and Luke. "I appreciate the fact that you's willin' to come back home. I know you wasn't ready for that yet."

"Ya mean you're stayin'? Permanent?" Jesse asked in genuine delight, looking at his favorite nephews. Both boys nodded at him.

"It's alright Coy." Luke replied, addressing his question. "You and Vance gave me and Bo here a decent chance to work on the Nascar circuit. We had the time of our lives and we was able to do it knowing the farm was in good hands. For that, we'll always be grateful."

Coy nodded as Luke embraced him. He then turned to Uncle Jesse.

"So where you goin', Coy?"

"Well, I got this friend who works as a bartender out in Vegas. He said if I's ta come out there, he could get me a job."

Jesse offered a faint smile to his nephew. "Well I can't say I won't miss ya, but I understand." He replied softly, grabbing the boy who had suffered so much in recent days into a tight hug. "Ya always got a home here if ya ever need it."

"Thank you, Uncle Jesse. I'll keep that in mind…..if ya promise to leave that strap over at Brownie's."

Uncle Jesse thought a minute, then his eyes lit up as he remembered the incident. The pair then laughed and smiled as Bo looked toward Luke in confusion and mouthed 'Brownie'?

"Bo, Luke. I just want to apologize again. Vance was just like a brother to me. If I could only be stronger….." He trailed off as he allowed himself a quick glance at the grave before he turned away again. "……..but I just don't think I'd be in very good shape to help even if I did hang around."

As Luke watched his younger cousin fight back some tears, he found himself wanting to put his arm around Bo's shoulders. "I understand. I'd feel the same way."

"Ditto, cuz." Bo replied.

Coy then fished around in his pocket, bringing out a set of keys. "I guess you'll be needing these back now." He announced, handing them to Bo.

Bo nodded as he accepted the keys with genuine delight. "It'll feel good to fly the General over a few riverbanks again. That's somethin' you definitely can't do in Nascar!"

As the group laughed, Cooter turned to Coy. "How about a lift to the Capital City bus station?"

**_And that's an example of how things go for everybody else when one of the Dukes goes to meet his maker._**

**_Ole Bo 'n Luke had to put there dreams on hold again. But with an occasional offer to race comin' in from Billy Kay, it didn't seem too bad. Hazzard certainly ain't no angled curve at the raceway, but with the girls prettier than ever, the fish bitin' hard and fast, and Rosco keepin' the speed traps baited, life in Hazzard would stay pretty interestin'._**

**_And don't you worry about ole' Coy none. With some distance and some time, he'll be just fine. The only thing I hate about it is, he's liable to be mighty lonely out there._**

"Hi there handsome." A showgirl greeted him as she walked by while Coy stood behind the bar drying a glass.

"Who's the new guy?" He heard another whisper as he smiled at the parade of women.

"I don't know but I'm gonna find out!"

"He's awfully cute, isn't he?"

_**Eh, you can scratch that last statement. The boy IS a Duke, after all.**_

THE END.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Hunt**

**Chapter 19**

**The Alternate Ending**

(_Okay folks, the 'it was Vance' ending was in my original plotline, but it is obvious some of you were rather disappointed in the outcome. Never let it be said that I didn't at least TRY to please my audience. Therefore, for you people who would have rather seen a whole Bo/Luke thing, here is a Bo/Luke ending. Now YOU get to decide how it ends…just pick your favorite ending!)

* * *

_

Jesse hugged Bo with all his might. Things looked promising for the first time in days. "I knew you'd eventually come back out here, I just knew it! You needed to come back out to this cemetary, back to Luke's grave. It's the first step toward the healin', Bo."

Cooter frowned as he looked at Jesse, who was happier than he had been in days, and Bo, who's hard task had just been made harder by his uncle's misunderstanding. Not sure what to do, Bo simply pushed himself away from Jesse and stared at the ground.

"Bo?" Jesse asked in mild shock. It wasn't like his youngest charge to turn away affection. No, that was more like Luke, his Luke, who was gone forever.

"I didn't come out here to see Luke, Uncle Jesse, I came out here to see you." Bo revealed.

"Me?" Jesse shook his head in confusion.

Bo looked toward Cooter. Cooter took that as his cue that his friend could use some support, so he stepped forward until he stood beside Bo. As the friends stood side by side Jesse stood, waiting to find out what was so important that Bo would show up at the place he had avoided for days just to talk to him.

"I'm……I'm leaving, Uncle Jesse."

"Leaving?" Jesse asked in shock.

Bo swallowed and shook his head. "Uncle Jesse, I can't stay here no more. It's driving me crazy not havin' Luke around."

"Bo you can't leave." Jesse replied, getting stern all of a sudden. "I just lost Luke, don't ask me to let you go too!"

"Billy Kay's offered me a spot on his crew." Bo continued rapidly, as if he hadn't heard Jesse. "I called Coy and Vance this morning…they're gonna come take over at the farm for me. And the money I make on the crew…..I'm gonna send it home and you can use it on the farm."

"Bo…."

"We're always scrapin' ta make ends meet anyway. You can use that money to get yourself a new tractor…maybe even a new truck."

"Bo I don't want….."

"I'll be great, Uncle Jesse." Bo continued as he gave his Uncle a quick tight hug. As soon as it ended, he ran toward the General Lee, wiping some tears from his eyes as he did so.

"I love you Uncle Jesse!" He shot back, reving up the General and peeling out of the cemetary.

"BO!" Uncle Jesse screamed back at the departing stock car. "BO DON'T GO!"

Jesse took off running and ran as long as the General was in sight. Bo willed himself not to look out the rearview mirror. He knew what he would see.

He hated to leave Jesse like that, and he felt bad for leaving Cooter to comfort him, but he figured the goodbye would be difficult even in the best of circumstances. The more distance he put between himself and Hazzard, he determined, the better he would feel.

_"Bo Peep to Shepherd. Please come in!"_

Bo wanted desperately to turn off his C.B. but he couldn't make himself do it.

_"Shepherd, please come in, I really gotta talk to ya!"_

_"This is Shepherd."_ Bo heard Jesse reply in a nasally voice. It was more than obvious he had been crying.

_"Uncle Jesse!"_ Daisy exclaimed in genuine delight. _"Uncle Jesse, you gotta get over to Tri-County right away!"_

_"Why? What's wrong? Did Bo…."_ Jesse fired off, afraid Bo may have been in an accident in his haste to leave.

_"Nothing's wrong Uncle Jesse! Everythings right!"_ Daisy beamed. _"Uncle Jesse…..Luke's alive…..and he's at Tri-County!"_

_"Daisy…." _Uncle Jesse replied after a long pause as Bo looked at the C.B. in shock. _"….honey it just can't be."_

_"Does this help it become more convincin'?"_ A new voice asked over the C.B.

Jesse nearly dropped the C.B. handle. _"Luke?"_

There was no mistaking that voice. With a huge grin, Bo spun the General in a perfect one-eighty and took off for Tri-County at lightning speed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Just one short hour later, there was a joyful reunion inside room 244 at the Tri-County hospital. As the initial hugging and tears and laughter were being shared, Daisy stayed on the C.B. that had been allowed in the room due to the special circumstance, spreading the news far and wide to all their friends in Chicasaw and Hazzard Counties.

After quite a while, things settled down enough that some pressing questions needed answering, and Sheriff Little was there to explain the situation.

"As you know." Little began. "Everything that happened this last week was a great, elaborate plan by our former Comissioner to put me out of service. As Comissioner, he felt that he needed the backing of all the high officials in the county. And he got the backing of a lot of them, most of our lawyers, some of the force, and even a few doctors. Unfortunately, it was my backing that he could have used the most to further himself, and the only backing he couldn't get."

"Sheriff Little, we already know that he planned to have you killed but what does any of that have to do with why Luke is here?" Bo asked.

"Well, it seems Luke didn't quite meet his demise as quickly as you're Uncle Jesse there thought." Sheriff Little explained. "It seems that the paramedics initially thought he was gone, but a recheck inside the ambulance determined he was still alive."

"Well it so happened that Jamie's girlfriend, Renee, is a nurse here at the hospital, and she was working that afternoon. When she called Jamie a short while after the robbery and explained the situation, Jamie didn't waste any time calling the Comissioner. It then seems that the Comissioner came over to the hospital to……….make sure Luke met his fate. Now the Comissioner can be very intimidating, but no matter how intimidating he was, Dr. Harbin was trained to save lives, not to take them. So, to satisfy the Comissioner while saving his own neck, he released the body of a recently deceased John Doe as Luke, and worked diligently to save Luke's life….and was successful as you can see."

"How did all that slip past Renee?" Cooter had to ask.

"Well, she had never worked with the John Doe, so it was simply a matter of the paperwork switch."

Jesse nodded. "Well, I can kinda see why we didn't learn about Luke here right away, but why didn't nobody tell us about this a couple days back after them boys was arrested?"

"Because…" Sheriff Little replied. "The Comissioner had to be arrested as well….and the formalities and evidence to make that happen wasn't put into place until this morning."

"Ya'll don't know how many times over tha last two days I've wanted to pick up that phone." Luke added, nodding toward the phone. "Sheriff Little finally had it taken from my room up until this morning."

"But you have to understand." Sheriff Little added. "As long as the Comissioner was free, your life was in danger."

"Fella's, I'm about to do somethin' I thought I'd never do." Daisy grined, before getting up and kissing Little's cheek. "Thank you and thanks to Dr. Harbin for all ya'll did to keep Luke safe. I hadn't ever been so happy to hear his voice than I was this morning."

"Happy people usually don't give out that bloodcurding scream you replied with." Luke teased her. "I think she thought she heard a ghost."

"Well cousin." Bo replied, slapping Luke on the back. "You're one ghost that I can't wait to see hauntin' the farm again."

"I take it you plan to stay around for the hauntin'?" Jesse asked, with it sounding more like a command.

Bo sighed and smiled. "Yes sir!"

_**Well ole' Jesse's gotta be a pretty happy man by now, considerin' he thought he lost both his boys just a couple hours ago.**_

_**Luke had to stay in the hospital a few more days, and finally came home to a celebration dinner----Jesse had whipped up a rare batch of his toad liver stew.**_

"Uh, Uncle Jesse, I'm not quite as hungry as I thought." Luke admitted, rising from the table and volunteering to feed the livestock. Bo ran to help him asDaisy announced her plans to take a shower. Jesse shrugged his shoulders and sipped the stew.

_**Ummm….now you see why it's rare.**_

_**It wasn't long after that that the boys were back to their regular routine, fishin', racin' the General, and catchin' girls. Things were fnally back to normal in Hazzard County...ummm...whatever that is.**_

**The End**


End file.
